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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: ahmed s <ahmed_sal63@yahoo.co.nz>
Reply-To: mr.salam_ahmed@voila.fr
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:59:03 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: (IMPORTANT) I'M WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST!
>From the desk of
Dr.Salam Ahmed
BANK OF AFRICA (BOA)
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Dear Sir,
This message might meet you in utmost surprise; however, it is just my
urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this
transaction. I am a banker by profession from Burkina Faso in West Africa
and currently holding the post of Director Auditing and Accounting unit of
the bank. I have the opportunity of transferring the left over funds
($12.5million) of one of my bank clients who died along with his entire
family on 31 July 2000 in a plane crash. You can confirm the geniuses of
the deceased death by clicking on this web site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm
hence; I am inviting you for a business deal where this money can be
shared between us in the ratio of 60/38 while 2% will be mapped out for
expenses. If you agree to my business proposal. Further details of the
transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as i receive your return mail.
1.Your name..................
2.Your phone..................
3.Age........................
4.Sex.........................
5.Profession.................
6.Address....................
Best regards.
Mr. Salam Ahmed
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Anti-fraud resources:
