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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:
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Zulu William" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <zulu_william02@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:44:34 -0000
Subject: Urgent Response needed
Hello,
How is life with you and family? I hope all is well? Before I write further, I will like to introduce myself to you. My names are Zulu William. I am from Zimbabwe. My father was a strong opposition of President Mugabe before he was finally eliminated.
Before the death of my father, he used my name to deposit some amount of money to the tune of ($10.5million) in a Finance company in United Kingdom.
I have been in Ghana since the death of my parent and no visa to get into United Kingdom. But i have had discussions with the company’s manager and he assures me that it will only take them 72working-hours to transfer the fund through their partner bank system once i produce a beneficiary and he or she produces the required documents since the fund is legitimately mine.
All I want is for you to please help me; I am only 19yrs old and nobody to run to for help and advice. I promise you that once the fund gets into your account, you can take out 25% and help me invest the balance 75%, then please help me also to get travelling documents e.g. visa and ticket to meet you up once the fund are in your account because I cannot go back to my country.
Please kindly get back to me immediately and information to enable me get in touch with the company for them to start the transfer process.
Yours sincerely
Zulu William.
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Anti-fraud resources:
