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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- peter_anderso678@yahoo.es (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Peter Anderson <peter_anderson111@outlook.com>
Reply-To: <peter_anderso22@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2015 12:44:01 +0000
Subject: DR Peters Anderso PLEASE URGENT
DR Peters Anderso PLEASE URGENT
AM THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT OF
THE NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM
(NNPC) LAGOS, NIGERIA.
ALLTERNATIVE EMAIL : peter_anderso678@yahoo.es
Dear Sir/Madam
I
and my senior colleagues in corporation have the sum of $26m twenty six
million US dollar which we got from over-inflated contracts awarded to
foreign contractors in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
N.N.P.C.We are seeking your permission to transfer this money into your
account. This money will be shared between you and partners here in
Nigeria.Your commission will be 30% of the total sum 10% will be mapped
out to offset any expenses incurred during transaction.
Please
let me know if you are interested in this business by above Email
address.More details of this business will be sent to you on hearing
from you.
For effective communication in this transaction, please send me your
confidential telephone and fax number including
private home or mobile number.
I
will send to you my confidential telephone and fax number on hearing
from you Note: This transaction last only 12 working days.
Yours Faithfully.
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Anti-fraud resources:
