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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:
- "foreign payment department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "ANTONY B" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <antony_barlow2008@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:20:34 +0100
Subject: INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT OFFICE
INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT OFFICE
TRANSFER AND CONTROL ROOM
HEAD OF TREASURY DEPARTMENT
FROM: TRANSFER AND CONTROL ROOM,
ATTNENTION MY FRIEND
THIS COMMUNIQUE IS COMING FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FOREIGN PAYMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. INFORMING YOU THAT WE RECEIVE
YOUR FILE IN THIS OFFICE. FOR THE PAYMENT OF YOUR FUND INTO YOUR BANK/ACCOUNT, BUT WHILE WE TRY TO MAKE PREPARATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE
FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE DETAILS OF THE BANKING/ACCOUNT DETAILS AS STATED IN YOUR PAYMENT FILE, AN APPLICATION WAS SUBMITED BY MR
SMITH HANS FROM GERMANY INFORMING US TO STOP TRANSFER THAT HE IS CHANGING THE ACCOUNT INFORMATIONS FOR THE TRANSFER. WHEN HE SENT IT THERE
WAS A TOTAL CHANGES FROM THE ACCOUNT DETAILS AS CONTAINED IN YOUR FILE.
HENCE I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU FIRST FOR YOU TO CONFIRM THE CHANGES BEFORE TRANSFER WILL BE MADE.SO NOW I WILL REQUIRE YOU TO SEND YOUR FULL
CONTRACT DETAILS AS WELL AS YOUR BANKING/ACCOUNT DETAILS YOU WANT THE FUND TO BE WIRE INTO IF IT WILL CORRESPOND WITH THE ONE YOUR PARTNER
SENT TO US.
AN URGENT REPLY IS NEEDED SO MAKE THE WIRE TRANSFER OF THE FUND TO THE RIGHT ACCOUNT AS THIS OFFICE WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR THE WRONG
TRANSFER OF FUND INTO A GHOST ACCOUNT.
REGARDS
MR. ANTONY BARLOW
HEAD OF TREASURY DEPARTMENT
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
