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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:
- "we advice you" (this email uses bad English)
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Uche Egbe" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <drucheebge@freeukisp.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 03:06:11 -0800
Subject: Attention:Beneficiary/Fund Owner
Attention,It was resolved after the Board meetings today by the foreign Remittance office of (Efcc)to release all
outstanding payment waiting for transfer as we begin this quarter fiscal payment of the year 2010. You are to
reconfirm details:Mr.Uche Egbe
Your Full Name:.......................
Home Address:.........................
Direct Telephone:.....................
Number:...............................
Age:..................................
Occupation:...........................
Fax Number:...........................
We advice you to send those informations immediately for proper release of your payment without any further delay.
Thanks
Best Regards
Dr.Uche Egbe
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Anti-fraud resources:
