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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "huge sum of money" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Michael Mayton Jr" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mmayton1@sify.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:37:36 +0100
Subject: INVESTMENT
Dear Sir/madam,
My name is Mr. Michael Mayton Jr., Regional Head of Account Dept (CHIPS The Clearing House Interbank Payment System London).
I am writing in respect of a Russian Citizen customer of my Clearing House Mr. Alexander Litvinenko who died by poison with radioactive thallium on the 23rd of Nov 2006 you can view more details about his death on the link below:
Please see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6178890.stm for more information.
The late Russian ex-spy Mr. Alexander Litvinenko left in our bank a huge sum of money and nobody will ever come for this money because as an ex-spy he never disclosed his transactions with anyone not even his relatives. I am the only person that is aware of this money since Mr. Alexander Litvinenko did not give to my Clearing House any next of kin to inherit his money.
Now, I want to use my position in the Clearing House to transfer this money to your country for investment. If you can provide me with an account where I can transfer this funds. I will give you 30% of this entire fund, 5% will be set aside for disbursement of each party while the remaining 65% shall be for me and my colleagues.
I am hoping to get a favorable response from you so that I can furnish you with further details on how we are to proceed in this lucrative business transaction. Do keep this transaction strictly confidential for security reasons.
Mr. Michael Mayton Jr
Head of Account Dept
CHIPS.
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Anti-fraud resources:
