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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:
- "transfer of your funds" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "hsbc_transferunit3@qq.com" (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: "HSBC BANK OF AFRICA" <info@mail.com>
Reply-To: hsbc_transferunit3@qq.com
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2013 02:06:49 +0330 (IRST)
Subject: SCAMMED VICTIM
SCAMMED VICTIM REF CODE: 06654 $400,000.00 USD ONLY
This is to bring to your notice that I am a delegate from the United
Nations to The IMF (International Monetary Fund) West Africa Regional
Payment Office to pay 521 scam victims $400,000.00 USD (Four Hundred
Thousand Dollars only) each. You are listed and approved for this payment
as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount,respond to this mail
as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $400,000 USD
compensations funds.
At this point you are advise to contact our authorized payment unit in
charge to enable them commence with the transfer of your funds immediately
with the information below:
You are to send your:
NAME:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE:
DATE OF BIRTH:
COUNTRY:
SEX:
OCCUPATION:
To HSBC BANK Representative: Mr Kelvin Moore.
Email: hsbc_transferunit3@qq.com
Regards,
Mrs.Susan Edward.
United Nation Representative.
http://www.un.org
NOTE : If You Receive This Message In Your Junk Or Spam Its Due To Your
Internet Provider.
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Anti-fraud resources:
