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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Fadi Hassan <mrfadi1981@gmail.com>
Reply-To: hassanfad01@yahoo.gr
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:15:44 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: My Greetings
DEAR FRIEND,
I AM MR.FADI HASSAN A STAFF OF ISLAMIC DEVELOPMENT BANK IN BENIN REPUBLIC. I WANT TO TRANSFER AN ABANDONED SUM OF US$5.5MILLION INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT FOR US TO SHARE IT.
THE DEPOSITOR IS LATE SAIF AL-ARAB GADDAFI. ON 30TH APRIL 2011, THE LIBYAN GOVERNMENT REPORTED THAT SAIF AL-ARAB AND THREE OF HIS YOUNG NIECES AND NEPHEWS WERE KILLED BY A NATO AIRSTRIKE ON HIS HOUSE DURING THE 2011 LIBYAN CIVIL WAR LEAVING NOBODY FOR THE CLAIM.
I HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DECEASED CUSTOMER`S ACCOUNT AND AS SUCH, WE CAN BOTH COLLECT THE MONEY WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM. THERE IS NO RISK INVOLVE IN THIS TRANSACTION. YOUR SHARE WILL BE 40% WHILE 60% WILL BE FOR ME. IF YOU CAN DO THIS BUSINESS AND KEEP THE TOP SECRET THEN, CONTACT ME THROUGH THIS MY EMAIL ADDRESS
KINDLY FORWARD YOUR BANKING DETAILS FOR THE TRANSFER AS INDICATED BELOW:
YOUR BANK NAME.........
BANK ADDRESS....
ACCOUNT NUMBER....
YOUR AGE:.......
YOUR OCCUPATION:......
YOUR PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS...
YOUR PRIVATE PHONE NUMBER......
I AM WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU.
YOURS TRULY,
MR.FADI HASSAN
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Anti-fraud resources:
