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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Gregory Pearce." (may be fake)
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 10:41:25 +0800
Subject: How are you?
Hello,
Greetings to you and your family. I am Gregory Pearce the Remittance Director at ATL Security Company, Malaysia. I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of ($39.5)million to your account within 10 or 14 banking days. This money has been dormant / UNCLAIMED for years so this is the reason why i contacted you for the fund release to your nominated account. Upon receipt of your reply, i will give you full details on how the fund transfer will be processed.
I assure you we will achieve this fund release successfully and i hope my proposal is accepted by you.
Respectfully,
Gregory Pearce.
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Anti-fraud resources:
