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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:
- 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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- 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.
- holas01@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Damian Nicholas" <damiannicholas03@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2015 07:06:17 +0800
Subject: Detail If You Are Interested
Dear Friend, My name is Damian Nicholas, I work with Lloyds Bank London. I =
write to let you know that we have a huge amount of money in a dormant cust=
omer account. I am the head of the department and have the opportunity to t=
ransfer this huge amount out of the bank. I want you to assist in this tran=
sfer, what I need is your bank account to transfer the fund. I have in diff=
erent dormant account, $10.5 million, $23.2 million and $2.8 million. I am =
here to get a reliable person that can work with me. I just need you to sen=
d your bank account details and your identity card. Driver's license or int=
ernational passport. I will send the money to your account and we share 50/=
50. Please understand that this information is very confidential and I will=
appreciate if you treat it as very important. I will send you more detail =
as soon as I receive the requested information and document. I look forward=
to your immediate response. Best regards, Damian Nicholas Email: damiannic=
holas01@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
