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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:
- "hundred thousand united states dollars" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Miss Susan Herbert" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <vxl123@westci.net>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 04:05:16 -0000
Subject: From HERBERT Susan
Hello,
My name is Miss Susan Herbert from Serria Leone adopted daughter of Late Mr.Gue Herbert ; we resides in Ivory Coast. Please I need your assistance to secure my inheritance which I inherited from him ,the sum of $ 8,200,000.00 (eight Million, Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars).which he willed to me before his death as his adopted daughter.
What I need from you is to provide account where to transfer this fund and to invest it for me in your country while I further my education when I join you because the wife of Late.Mr.Gue Herbert is not happy about the money I inherited from the family due to religion differences; therefore I need to transfer it out of here as fast as possible.
I will send you the documents when I hear from you and also I will offer you 10% of the total money for providing account and assistance and 30% of any profit made out of the money when invested in your country. We will discuss more when I hear from you.Let this be as a top secret between me and you for security reasons and for my future.
Regards,
Miss Susan Herbert
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Anti-fraud resources:
