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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)
- "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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Yannick Razaq <yannick.razaq7@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2016 18:56:03 -0400
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend
Greetings, my name is Mr. Yannick Razaq the account manager in
charge of audit
Foreign Remittance Unit, African Development Bank Group Ouagadougou Burkina
Faso, It is true that we have not meet each other in person, but I strongly
believe in trust and friendship in every business. As I am contacting you
independently of my investigation and no one is informed of this
communication.
My reason for contacting you is to transfer an abandoned sum of $6 Million
dollars immediately to your private account. The money has been here
in our Bank
lying dormant for years now without anybody coming for the claim of it.
The funds belong to our deceased Customer Mrs.Shannel Lake who perished along
with her family since 8 years ago The Banking laws here does not allow such
money to stay more than 10 years, that is the reason why I need your
Cooperation
in transferring the money to your bank account so that we can use it to secure
the future of our both families because I don't want the money to be
recalled to
the bank treasury as unclaimed fund.
By indicating your interest I will send you the full details on how
the business
will be executed. Please keep this proposal as a top secret and delete if you
are not interested.
My best regards.
Mr. Yannick Razaq
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Anti-fraud resources:
