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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:
- "necessary legal documents" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "C. B. Law Firm" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <chrisbrownoffice@ig.com.br>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 23:24:50 -0000
Subject: From Chris Brown ....
My Dear,
I am highly esteemed to write you this proposal; I am Christian Brown a solicitor and personal attorney to the above client of mine, An Engineer with SONACOP. He died a few years ago and left me the responsibility of locating and transferring $13.4million he left for his only son. Since then I have made several inquiries to locate his son only to realize that his son died of drug abuse 2 years ago.
The bank has issued me with a notice as the attorney to the deceased to provide the next of kin or the account will be suspended indefinitely within the next 21 official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating any of the deceased's heirs over the years, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased.
As the personal attorney to my late client, I have decided to contact you to assist in transferring the money left behind by my client to your bank account before they will be confiscated or declared unserviceable by his bankers. I have all the necessary legal documents that will be used to back up the claim. All I require from you is your honest co-operation to enable us see this arrangement through. I guarantee that this arrangement will be executed under a legitimate banking procedure and the provision of the laws concerning inheritance fund will be strictly adhered to, this will protect you from any breach of the law. You can get back to me with your opinion so that I will inform you on what next to do.
Yours Sincerely,
Christian Brown
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Anti-fraud resources:
