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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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Mike Kachikwu." <revjohnobi2012@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mike.kachikwu2017@yandex.com
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2017 19:56:23 -0700
Subject: RE REQUEST FOR URGENT DEAL ATTN.
Dear friend
I greet you .
Pls my name is Mr Mike Kachikwu of NNPC Nigerian Petroleum
having an over invoiced contract to claim in our treasury foreigner ,after a
contract awarded, executed by a foreign firm and fully commissioned
.
The invoiced is what i am seeking your permission to stand as
next of kin to claim into foreign account.
The total funds is $21 million , dollars
I shall explain more in due course . This arrangement is already
gazetted to up hold my retirement by December 2017.
Pls forward your bank details ,phone # and id card so that
any lawyer will lead us right My rgds, Mr Mike Kachikwu.
Tel : +23408179324097
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Anti-fraud resources:
