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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 beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Accountant General Office <otunlajonah.accgen01@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: otunlajonah.accgen1@manager.in.th
Date: Mon, 6 May 2013 19:41:47 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: IRREVOCABLE FUND RELEASE ADVICE
Dear Beneficiary,
IRREVOCABLE
FUND RELEASE ADVICE
This Honorable Office is glad to inform you that
your long overdue payment has been approved to be released to you without much
protocol. Your file was approved by the Presidency yesterday after it was thoroughly
screened. Obviously, from your file here you have been dealing with impostors
and scammers who siphon your hard earned money without helping you. Hence the
Presidency has waived your obligations of which you are not required to pay a
cent until you receive your fund apart from the US$140 Presidential Endorsement
fee.
You are advised to respond immediately with your Telephone Number, Receiving Address and Identification
immediately if you are willing and able to give us your maximum corporation towards
concluding this transaction with you. If we fail to hear from you, your payment
will be automatically cancelled and thrown to the void as we do not have much
time left. We look forward to you immediate response.
Yours Sincerely,
JONAH
OTUNLA
Accountant General of the Federation
Nigeria
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Anti-fraud resources:
