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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)
- "million dollars" (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)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Karim Ibrahim" <teco2ad@info.com>
Reply-To: "Mr.Karim Ibrahim" <mkibrahim101@mail2world.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2015 00:23:42 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Assist me.
Dear Friend ,
Good day and compliment.
I know that you will be surprise to get this mail from me since we dont know each other before, please it was due to the urgency of this transaction kindly accept my apology. I am the interim Bank Manager under political appointment in this Bank(BANK OF AFRICA BOA) Burkina Faso .
I need your urgent assistance in transferring this sum of (US$ 9.3 million dollars) to a foreign account before i step down end of DECEMBER 2015 ,You will have 30% of the above mentioned sum if you agree to work with me to bring this to success within 7 to 9 day.
I look forward to receive your return mail for more details on how to execute the transfer to your account within 7-9 days. Send me your information as follows.
1. Name in full:..................
2. Address:......................
3. Nationality:.................. .
4. Age:.......................... .
5. Sex........................... .
6. Occupation:................... .
7. Marital....................... .
8. Your cell N0:...................for easy communication.
Thanks and have a great day.
Mr.Karim Ibrahim
Interim Bank Manager
Burkina Faso
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Anti-fraud resources:
