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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:
- "annkofi@mail.bg" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Ann <mrs.ann95@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: annkofi@mail.bg
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:50:44 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: PAYMENT RELEASE BY (CBN & WORLD BANK)
P {
MARGIN: 0px
}
UL {
MARGIN-TOP: 5px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px
}
OL {
MARGIN-TOP: 5px; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px
}
ATT BENEFICIARY.
DATE,17-10-2011
--------------------
This is to inform you over the FUND release and
this issue came to us after the board of directors meeting in (C.B.N)
with WORLD BANK AUDITORS. Please you should get back to us with your
details such as CELL PHONE,REAL NAME COUNTRY,OCCUPATION to
enable us issue you the directives on how to receive your payment before
72 working hours and you should stop further communication with any
officer as of now and get back to us immediately. Please reply here (
annkofi@mail.bg )
---------------------------------
REGARDS
MRS ANN KOFI
SPECIAL ADVICE TO THE GOVERNOR
ACCOUNT DEPARTMENT (C.B.N)
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Anti-fraud resources:
