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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Frank Kone <frank_konea@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: Frank Kone <frank_konee@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 12:52:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend, My name is Mr. Frank Kone from Cote d’Ivoire; I am a banker by profession. I have a confidential issue to discuss with you. Here in our bank i discovered huge amount of money, the customer that deposited the money is no more alive and his next of kin who supposed to claim the money after him died here along with him on motor accident.
The deceased customer who deposited the money was a foreigner like you who worked with SHELL Petroleum Company. I found out that the account file has overstayed in dormancy. It is based on these that I contact you since you are a foreigner so that we can claim the money.
With my position here in the bank i can provide the necessary legal paper documents that can be used to claim the money before the money might get confiscated, all I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this deal through.
Waiting for your urgent reply include your direct phone number for further discussion. Thanks, Mr. Frank Kone.
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Anti-fraud resources:
