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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:
- 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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "(ecowas)" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ecobank Ghana Ltd" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ecoopokumorgan@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:45:26 +1000
Subject: Immediate Remittance of Your US$5M Without Hitch
ECOBANK GHANA
19, SEVENTH AVE RIGDE (WEST)
ACCRA-GHANA
TELEX: ECOBNKGH
Attn: Beneficiary,
RE: PRE- ADVICE AND PAYMENT NOTIFICATION OF US$5M
We write to notify you that we have received a pre-advice instruction from the Payment Panel of ECOWAS to credit your nominated account with US$5M and debit their coded a/c with our branch within 48hrs as your over due inheritance payment. This instruction was received last Friday from Economic community of West Africa States (Ecowas) Headquarters in Lome.
Be informed that we will release the transfer upon the reconfirmation of the following information's
1. Your bank account details where you would want the fund will be transferred
2. Your Mobile Telephone and Fax Number
3. Your Company name and address
Our telex department will transfer the funds to your a/c and send to you the telex confirmation slip for further confirmation with your bank.
Regards,
Mr. Opoku Morgan
Remittance Dept
Ecobank Ghana Ltd
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Anti-fraud resources:
