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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:
- "million british pounds" (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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: greg fox <grrfox46@msn.com>
Reply-To: <grg_fx77@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2010 12:55:00 +0000
Subject: Greeting!
Greeting!
I know this letter will definitely come to you as a surprise. I am Greg Fox, the Auditor General in UBS Investment Bank in London. During the course of my auditing I have discovered floating funds in an account opened in this Bank in year 2007. Since 2008 nobody has used this account. After going through some old files of the account records, I discovered the owner of this account died without leaving any [heirs] to his name.
I am soliciting for your assistance to present you as the next of kin to the deceased. Hence he does not have anyone as his next of kin to inherit 15.7 Million British Pounds. For us to proceed with this endeavor you must get back to me if you have an interest. Upon showing me you have interest. We will exchange information and from there we will proceed with the necessary functions to complete this transaction.After Conclusion of this business 70% of the total fund will be for me while you take 30% for your assistance.
Looking forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Mr. Greg Fox
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Anti-fraud resources:
