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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- antifraudteam1@hotmail.com (Hotmail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: Anti-Fraud Unit <gregstevenson48@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Anti-Fraud Unit <antifraudteam1@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2014 20:51:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: African Union Anti-Fraud Unit Compensation
Attn:
This is from the African Union (AU) Anti-fraud team in collaboration With the United Nations (UN) in regards to the extensive raid (arrests) on Internet scammers. Due to the high rate of complain we have been receiving from United Nations (UN) on the level of Scam artists/fraudsters with African nationality. All the Internet Service Providers had noticed the
increased email traffic originating from African to other continents.
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In this raid, three hundred and six (306) scammers were arrested so far and the raid is still on. We have recovered the total sum of US$1.2 Billion from them from both cash and assets confirmed to have come from their victims. As we have found hundreds of thousands of email addresses of victims from their address books. It is at this juncture that we are contacting you.
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The African Union (AU) with the United Nation (UN) is making refunds of US$550,000.00 each to victims among whom his/her email address was listed on the scammer's address books. Confirm through this email (antifraudteam1@hotmail.com) if you are the true possessor of this email, and provide us with the following information for your refund,
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Your Names:
Sex:
Age:
Nationality:
Any your id card
Tel number:
Email address: (re-confirm)
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Upon receipt of your reply and confirmation of the information, your
Refund funds will be transfer direct to your account
Mr. Charles Okuku
(Safety & Security Minister Head office Ghana West Africa)
African Union Anti-Fraud Unit Compensation
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Anti-fraud resources:
