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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "certified bank draft" (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: FIDELITY BANK PLC NIGERIA <unioncobank@gmail.com>
Reply-To: annmarie.derik@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2022 19:18:35 -0800
Subject: Fidelity Bank Plc (Urgent Information)
Dear Beneficiary,
This is to bring to your notice that orders given by the Presidency
and the entire house of senate for the year 2022 is that my bank is
the chosen bank to pay out all foreign contract/inheritance funds.My
bank was ordered after meeting held in the presidential villa Aso-Rock
Abuja to contact and proceed with payment of your contract/inheritance
Funds by informing you that the former bank in charge of your payment
being Oceanic Bank plc, Zenith Bank,Union Bank, EcoBank, ETC is no
longer in charge of this payment.
I wish to inform you that your ($3.5M USD) outstanding payment has
been approved and ready to be paid but we want to confirm first from
you by giving you our mode of payment this arrangement was agreed
between the Presidency and the Senate Committees so take note that we
only have (2) mode of Payment Stated Bellow:
(1) Certified Bank Draft: Certified: Bank Draft Will Be Charged With
This Amount.
(2) ATM Card Payment: An ATM Card Will Be Charged With This Amount
with Limited Withdrawals per Day..
I will require you to make your choice out the two modes of payment
how you would want to receive your fund from our bank and get back to
this office regarding this information and we will take it from there.
Yours Respectfully,
Gbolahan Joshua
Executive Director/Chief
Operations Officer
Fidelity Bank PLC
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Anti-fraud resources:
