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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:
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Dr Smith Jackson <ivi@silk.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: Dr Smith Jackson < Account Optionssmijack05@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2019 12:40:47 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Director Foreign Remittance Department United Bank
We write to inform you about your abandoned lottery inheritance award winning check of $10.5million USD which was issued out from the bank last Month belonging to you as the rightfully intimate beneficiary. Although the check has been cashed & converted to ATM Card, reasons?, the check was cashed & loaded into a card because the check may get expired before it gets to your possession due to the time delayed trying to contact you, We been trying to contact you for few weeks.therefore we have registered the ATM card with Courier Company here. So you are advise to contact me via those info below, please ensure you send me your current address where to deliver the ATM card.Endeavor to indicate the ATM parcel registration number when getting back to me ( ATM-067ZH ) when contacting my e-mail or my number.
Reconfirm Your Information Here.
1. Valid Delivery Address:
2. Full Names:
3. Phone Number:
4. Occupation:
5. Age:
6. Sex:
Thanks for your co-operation and i wait for your kind positive respond.
BEST REGARDS,
Dr Smith Jackson
Call or Text +1 779-529-1915
Director Foreign Remittance Department
United Bank for Africa UBA
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Anti-fraud resources:
