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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.
- 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.
- unoinfo@katamail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "UNITED NATIONS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unoinfo@katamail.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 18:03:03 -0700
Subject: IRREVOCABLE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT.
ATTENTION: CATEGORY "A" BENEFICIARY.
WE WISH TO NOTIFY YOU THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED A CREDIT DIRECTIVES FROM OUR CORRESPONDING BANK HERE IN LONDON ENGLAND, CITIGROUP TO PAY YOU YOUR INHERITANCE/CONTRACT INTEREST FUND WORTH $8.3M.
THE WORLDBANK BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS CONCLUDED TO EFFECT YOUR PAYMENT, REGARDS TO THE ENDORSMENT OF YOUR PAYMENT CERTIFICATE RECEIVED FROM THE CitiGroup, YOU ARE ADVISED TO CONTACT THIS BANK WITH YOUR FULL INFORMATION TO ENABLE US CROSS CHECK WITH THE INFORMATION SENT TO US FROM OUR CORRESPONDING BANK CITIGROUP, TO CONFIRM IF YOU ARE THE AUTHORIZED BENEFICIARY OF THE FUND. WITH THE ONE FORWARDED TO US BY THE CITIGROUP.
1) YOUR FULL NAMES...
2) YOUR ADDRESS
3) YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER...
4) YOUR FORM OF IDENTIFICATION...
5) YOUR OCCUPATION AND AGE...
UPON THE RECEIPT OF YOUR URGENT RESPOND, THE CITIBANK PLC WILL PROCEED FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT OF YOUR FUND AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THE REQUIRED INFORMATION FOR PROPER CONFIRMATION OF YOUR PAYMENT.
PLEASE KINDLY CONTACT THIS OFFICE WITH THIS E-MAIL : unoinfo@katamail.com
YOURS TRULY,
DR. ERIC BEN
PAYMENT DIRECTOR
UNITED NATIONS PRO
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Anti-fraud resources:
