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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign payment department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- 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.
- alimahmudibaghdadi744@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "ALI Mahmudi" <hh84561@gmail.com>
Reply-To: alimahmudibaghdadi744@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2016 07:09:23 -0200
Subject: Good News
I am Ali Mahmud Baghdad Chairman Foreign Payment department i have been
mandated to inform you about the recent development of your payment fund,
after our board meeting your case was mention and we have agreed to pay
you without any further delay. Kindly proceed immediately to enable the
Bank start the smooth action for this transaction to your designated
account.
I would like you to employ transparency and honesty in these regards
because aiding and abetting will only keep your payment pending. So I will
like you to confirm the following to avoid any mistake or wrong transfer.
The total fund's US$18.5 million The Requested Information is to ensure
that no mistake or error is made and it should be forwarded in the manner
stated below:
1 Your Full Name__
2 Your Complete Address:
3 Name of City of Residence
Your country
4 Direct Telephone Number:
Best Regards.
Ali Mahmud
alimahmudibaghdadi744@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
