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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:
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: mikeozekhomeandassociates <mikeozekhomeandassociates@gmail.com>
Reply-To: philpwest2222@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:46:10 -0700
Subject: DID YOU AUTHORIZE ROBATI?
Sir,
This is to know from you if you truly gave Mr.Robati Mohammadreza the
power of attorney to claim your money.He came to our office last
Friday with a letter which according to him was signed by you,with the
below bank account details.He came with all the necessary fees with
other documents.
Residential And PostalAddress : No. 39 Second Floor Block 1/3 Yas
Complex Abotalleb, Shafa Blv. Mashhad IRAN.
Occupation : Managing DirectorSex : Male.
Age : 50 Years.
Marital Status : Married
Bank Name : Bank Saderat IRANBank
Address : Mashhad IRAN
Account Number : 0210229791006
SWIFT Code: BSIRIRTH015
IBAN: IR20 0190
0000 0021 0229 791006
We therefore want to know if you truly authorized him to claim your
fund by paying it into his Bank account details as shown above.We need
to hear from you urgently since we can not liable to any wrong
transfer of fund thereafter.
Attached is Mr.Robati Mohammadreza's International Passport which he
submitted with the power of attorney.
Your urgently response is needed.
Mike Ozekhome & Co.
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Anti-fraud resources:
