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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:
- "receive a commission" (Beware of any scheme that involves depositing checks or money orders or receiving wire transfers in your bank account and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere, for a percentage of 5-15% of the total. Such offers are *always* fraudulent and you will be liable for the entire amount when the checks, money orders or wire transfers turn out to be fraudulent. Any money already forwarded comes out of *your* pocket then. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Success Ola" <successola98@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: successola79@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:51:49 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: Hello
Hello,
It is a pleasure to approach you and make some demands and ask for a
favour. During the last researches and investigations made by the ministry
of mining concerning the gold and diamond mining areas of my country (
Burkina Faso Republic in West Africa) , it was find out that the 10 acres
land that was left for me as inheritance after my fathers death is a
mining zone and contains gold and diamond. I then employed a group of 50
people working for me on panning.
I will like to increase the productivity of the group and also employ more
people. I am therefore approaching you so that you can give me some
advises on the kind of machines to use and help me get a quotation or
invoice about the following machines:
1 - Dredgers (different sizes and prices)
2 Metal Detectors (various kinds)
3 - Sluices
4 Diggers
5 Coal miners hard hat with light
And others according to your advises.
IMPORTANT:
1 - We will also like to let you know that we have 265 kilograms of gold
for sale at the rate of $ 19.000 (nineteen thousands US dollars only per
kilogram). For every buyer that you bring to us, you will receive a
commission of 4% of the total amount.
2 We are also looking for people that will partner with us and invest in
this project for the buying of very heavy and performant equipments. We
will shear the benefits as well.
Thanks for replying
Mr. Success Ola
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Anti-fraud resources:
