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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Allen Murphy" <allenmurphy.gov@gmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: allenmurphy.gov@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 18:57:01 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: Attention Beneficiary
Attention Beneficiary,
We are pleased to inform you that your Inheritance Payment was included in
a Presidential Pay Order from the United Kingdom (Uk) and the Federal
Republic of Nigeria in accordance with
agreement reached with the United States, Asia and Europeans Governments
to offset long and overdue claims here in Citibank New York.
Your past complain had been reviewed and your claims was approved in your
favor.
We at the United Kingdom in collaboration with the Nigeria Consulate in
New York had been mandated to effect your payment upon verification of
your claims via our bonded account with the
Federal Reserve Bank and in conjunction with Citibank New York.
We wish to inform you that your payment has been approved and your funds
would be transferred to your Bank Account from Citibank New York.
Kindly get in touch with me via email for proper process for the transfer.
Awaiting your immediate response.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Allen Murphy
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Anti-fraud resources:
