joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
  • "million us dollars" (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)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  

Fraud email example:

From: DANIEL LAKELE ZUMA <jzumazuma@netscape.net>
Reply-To: lkzuma@netscape.net
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:14:16 +0200
Subject: READ CAREFULLY.


Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Daniel lakele Zuma,a relative to former vice president Jacob Zuma of South Africa. I got your email address from the web directory so I decided to contact you.

I am interested in diverting some funds currently floating in the foreign suspense account of the federal pay office to your account as soon as possible.

Source of the funds are:

During the South Africa arms deal with French arms manufacturer, Thales, involvling Jacob Zuma and his adviser, Schabir Shaik, government’s officials awarded contracts to their own companies, these contracts were grossly over invoiced. Now the present government set up review panel to investigate the contract. My cousin (Jacob Zuma) and I lodged a huge amount totaling US$120m (One hundred and Twenty million us dollars) in a bank in Europe.

I will want US$70.5m (Seventy million & Five Hundred Thousand) united states dollars out of this money oversea transferred to your account because I'm not eligible to operate foreign account because of the present political situation involving my cousin Jacob Zuma, and I am searching for a partner abroad. I really want this transfer made as soon as possible before the government, who have started refunding money from our foreign accounts track this money. I will be offering 30% for your assistance.
If you would want to proceed with this transaction please reply with your full name and telephone number and if you do not accept my offer please treat with utmost confidentiality.

For more information check and browse carefully all the links in the website below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4430678.stm
Best Regards,
Daniel Lakele Zuma,

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam