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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:
- "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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: KEVIN PHILIP <kevin.philip2@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: drkevin4philip@yahoo.cn
Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 01:48:18 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: From Dr. Philip Kevin.
>From Dr. Philip Kevin.
Confidential Message.
Dear Sir,
I am writing this mail from my residence because of its confidential nature.This letter contains some confidential materials which should be delected from your mail box if you are unable to help me out concerning the proposal.I am the director of international remittance in a bank here in Abidjan.
I and my colleagues have an amount of 28 million dollars belonging to Gen.Robert Guei who was shot dead together with all his family by the Government soldiers here on an accusation of plotting a failed coup de d'etat.This money was 58 million dollars but some have been used in the importation of arms by the General until he met the unexpected death.
I have all the necessary document involved in the deposition and the withdrawal of the part of the money.In depositing the fund,the late General used the name of his personal guard as the next of kin who also killed in the coup d'etat.Now I want you to stand as the next of kin and help us transfer out this amount of money from here.This business is 100% risk-free and I will prepare all the documentation and prove the source of the fund before the transfer.
I want you to know that this business involves I and 5 top officials in our bank and must not be taken as a joke,I advice you to think very well before responding because we need a very strong hand in this transaction.
Your percentage and other important details will be discussed once I confirm your kind willingness in this transaction.
Thanks.
Dr.Philip Kevin
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Anti-fraud resources:
