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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:
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Abdulla Al Otaiba <thomasskosomboo0@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <abudullarkhaliedotaba50@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2015 07:12:39 +0100
Subject: Re, Bank transfer Business
Good Day,my name is Abdullah Otiba. am a banker here in UAE Dubai, there was an amount in our bank that they will declared unserviceable by our board if the rightful owner or someone didn't claim it legally and i want to use this opportunity to transfer this funds to your Account so we can share it 50% 50% or we can invest it into business or any profitable business you want.
I contacted you because i need someone aboard to claim this funds legally and I will provide all the information about the account and even introduce you to the registered attorney that will handle it for us.
Bear in mind that this transaction is 100% risk free and must be legal, if you can do it with me, then I will give you the account details and the lawyer's information for transfer Process.
I hope to hear from you soon.
>From Abdullah Otiba
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Anti-fraud resources:
