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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "BANK OF AMERICA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bo11a@boa.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 22:02:56 +0100
Subject: THE FBI AND BOA HAVE APPROVED YOUR TRANSFER
This is to inform you that we have concluded plans to finally transfer your fund to you but we cannot make this transfer without hearing from you and confirming that you are ready to accept the fund.We are also aware of the issues you had with African banks and we have open investigation with the FBI and now we have recovered your funds and it's with this bank.You are not expected to make anymore payment whatsoever on this transfer for any reason because as we speak the fund is ready to be transferred to any of your nominated Bank account or delivered to your doorstep as you wished.
We the Wells Fargo Bank will and must transfer your fund this time and if you want it via Delivery then indicate too.You do not need to worry anymore because the FBI have confirmed your transfer and you are to follow the instruction below.
Please download the attachment and make sure you click on RUN to view your slip. Make sure you click RUN because that confirms you are ready to receive your lost fund.Please open the attached file and then make sure you click on RUN to view.Without clicking on the RUN you cannot be able to view the file attached.Proceed now and download then click RUN to view.Congratulations Attached is your SLIP
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Anti-fraud resources:
