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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- sgt.kennedynwan@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Sgt. Kennedy Nwan" <breadly@sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: sgt.kennedynwan@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 11:19:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: LET DO IT TOGETHER, HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
From:The Table of Sgt. Kennedy Nwan
Hello,
My name is Sgt.Kennedy Nwan and I am an American Soldier serving in the Military of the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq. As you know, we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombings. We stumbled into Saddam Hussein's storage vault and discovered funds belonging to his family. The total amount is US$168.5 Million Dollars. We want to move this money to a reputable/sincere person for investment purposes. This is the reason for contacting you.
We are ready to compensate you with good percentage of the funds. We have shipped the money out of Iraq to a security company in Europe via diplomatic means as Iraq is a war zone. We want you to help us receive the funds into your bank account for purposes of investiments or you can set up a fresh account for this transaction. If you are interested, I will send you more details. We are three colleagues in this business transaction and I was mandated to find a good and respectable partner with great reputation that we can trust.
Can we trust you?. If you want us to trust you, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest to this email (sgt.kennedynwan@yahoo.com) and supply me with the following information to enable us continue with all processes regards to this transaction:-
1 Your telephone numbers
2 Your full mailing address
3 Your nature of business
4 Your marital status.
This transaction is 100% risk free. You can visit this website for better understanding. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm.
Respectfully,
Sgt. Kennedy Nwan
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Anti-fraud resources:
