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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)
- "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)
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "aminatukabore@yandex.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Aminatu Kabore <webbweb123@gmail.com>
Reply-To: aminatukabore@yandex.com
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2018 10:22:37 +0100
Subject: I Need Your Assistance!
Dear Friend
Greetings, My name is Aminatu Kabore, The account manager in charge of
audit, Foreign Remittance Unit. in a bank in 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 $15million 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 fund belongs to our deceased Customer Mrs.Shannel Lake who
perished along with her family since nine years ago.The Banking law
here does not allow such money to stay more than ten years, that is
the reason why I needed 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 position as the chief auditor in this bank guarantees the
successful execution of this (deal) transaction. Please send the
followings: Reply To This E-mail Address ( aminatukabore@yandex.com )
1)your full name.....
2) sex.....
3) age.....
4) country.....
5)passport or photo.....
6)occupation.....
7) personal Mobile number.....
8)Home &office address.....
9) Your marital status........
Thanks.
Aminatu Kabore.
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