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:
  • "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.

Fraud email example:

From: Henry Wood <henrywood2002@live.com>
Reply-To: <henrywood1971@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:09:38 +0100
Subject: From Henry Wood (Urgent)



Dear Sir I am the personal lawyer to Late Mr. Mark Zuma who is a citizen of South Africa who was a car dealer, who died alongside with his entire family in a motor accident by march 2006.I am from Liberia but i live in London. The reason why I am contacting you is that the bank where he has a fixed deposit account before his demise have given me a one month ultimatum to produce his next-of-kin that will claim his money or they will have to take-over the money. I have searched for his next-of-kin or any member of his family that will claim this money to no avail. Since I have been given a one month deadline to produce the next-of-kin or risk loosing my client’s money I said I should contact you so that I will present you to the bank as his next-of-kin. All the information and document concerning my client are all with me should the bank ask you of them which is likely. Once I present you to the bank and they are convinced that you are the next-of-kin, they will go ahead and pay you the money. Once the money is paid to you, it will be shared on a 50-50 basis among both of us. I will furnish you with other details once I hear from you if you have accepted my offer. Please for the sake of this transaction, I will like you to keep it absolutely confidential in other for it not to leak. I will be expecting your prompt reply as soon as possible.
Regards Barrister Henry Wood
_________________________________________________________________
Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy!
http://spaces.live.com/spacesapi.aspx?wx_action=create&wx_url=/friends.aspx&mkt=en-us

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam