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)
  • "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "huge deposit" (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)
  • "the consignment" (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)
  • "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "i have a new email address!" (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• 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.
  • fred_aku@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
  • fcpd.fred@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: Fred Aku <fred_aku@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: akuesulef@yahoo.in
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:06:01 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: I AWAIT YOUR SERIOUS REPLY@@


I have a new email address!You can now email me at: fred_aku@yahoo.com



- Dear Friend,I am Fred Akuesule and I am in charge of the Foreign Contract Payment division, Nigeria. The reason why I am sending this mail to you is to inform you that the Federal Government of Nigeria have decided to pay all owed persons/companies their contract payment/inheritance funds that have been outstanding since the last regime, the new President of my country made a promise to the International community that all local and International debts must be settled in his tenure. My office is charge of final clearance for payment to any individual/person that is to be paid so I want to use the opportunity to include your name/company name in the list of Government contractors that is to be paid by the Nigerian Government so that you can receive the payment of US$7Million as one of the foreign contractors. The US$7Million came into existence as a result of an over-invoice which I did on another contractor's payment, the contractor's payment was actually US$41Million but!
I intentionally raised it to US$48Million, the contractor from Iran have been paid the sum of US$41Million as his original contract amount leaving me with the top up balance of US$7Million which I have set aside for myself pending when I make contact with a sincere and trusted person that I can entrust the money to for investment purposes. I as a Government official still serving the Nigerian Government, I am not supposed to be in possession of such large sum or operate a local or foreign bank account with huge deposit of US$7Million.I have already packaged the US$7Million inside a consignment and I have deposited it in a private security company here in Nigeria for safekeeping but it was not disclosed to the security company that it is money; rather I informed them that the consignment contains family treasures/personal effect. If you are interested by acting as my sincere and trusted partner, do contact me as soon as possible and send me your full names, contact address!
, telephone/fax numbers so that I can introduce you to the security co
mpany to enable you claim the consignment on my behalf. After the deal is concluded, I will travel and meet with you in your country for us to share the money thus: 30% of the money will be for you while 70% will be for me.I await your urgent response only on my private email address: fcpd.fred@gmail.com Fred Akuesule Chairman, Foreign contract Payment Division Federal Republic of Nigeria

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam