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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Michael Efe" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <michaelefe89@naij.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2017 00:55:05 +0100
Subject: Scammed victim compensation fund.
Scammed victim compensation fund.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We received a letter from one Marylou Smith who stated that you have given to her the authorization to claim your scammed victim compensation fund valued at $1M.We have planned to send the fund to her via ATM Visa card payment system if we do not receive a mail from you within 7 working days.If you are not the person that asked her to claim your fund,you should reply to us urgently and send $105 for the activation of your ATM Visa card to our payment receiving agent below:
Receivers name:Mordi Emeka.
Location:Lagos Nigeria.
Text question:What for?
Answer:For activation.
Send the following after you have sent the fee:
1.Senders name.......
2.Sendsers address and country.
3.Senders telephone number
4.And scanned copy of the payment receipt.
Waiting to hear from you.
Regards.
Mr.Michael Efe
ATM card payment
Crediting Officer
Uba Lagos Nigeria.
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Anti-fraud resources:
