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:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
• 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.
  • stephen_private@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • mr_stephen02@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: stephen mensah <mensah04@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <mr_stephen02@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:47:26 +0000
Subject: From The Desk of Regional Manager



From The Desk of Regional ManagerMr Stephen MensahE-Mail:stephen_private@yahoo.co.uk+233287293362

Dear Friend, My name is Stephen Mensah, I am the regional manager of the International Commercial Bank Tema Accra Ghana I got your information during my search through the Internet. I am 44years of age and married with 3lovely kids.

It may interest you to hear that I am a man of PEACE and don't want problem,I only hope we can assist each other.If you don't want this businessoffer kindly forget it, as I will not contact you again. I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us,as the regional manager of the International Commercial Bank it is my duty to send in a financial report to my head office in the capital city Accra at the end of each year. On the course of the last year 2006 end of year report, I discovered that my branch in which I am the manager made Three million five hundred thousand dollars [US$3, 500.000.00] which my head office are not aware of and will never be aware of. I have since plac e this fund on what we call SUSPENSE ACCOUNT without any beneficiary. As an officer of the bank I can not be directly connected to this money,so this informed my contacting you for us to work so that you can assist receive this money into your bank account for us to SHARE.While you will have 50% of the total fund. I will appreciate it very much. As soon as Ireceive your response I will details you on how we can achieve it successfully. Best regards,Mr Stephen MensahE-Mail:mr_stephen02@yahoo.com+233287293362

_________________________________________________________________
Make every IM count. Download Windows Live Messenger and join the i’m Initiative now. It’s free. 
http://im.live.com/messenger/im/home/?source=TAGWL_June07

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam