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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 united states dollars" (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)
- "contract award committee" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned 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: Online Coordinator <mrsjoyday@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: billnicholson84@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 14:34:22 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Attn: The MD/CEO
From: Mr. Eke Johnson
N.N.P.C. Contract Award Committee Chairman.
Lagos Nigeria.
Attn: The MD/CEO
I would like to use the name of your company to receive the sum of Forty million United states dollars ($40m) which was deliberately over invoiced by my committee.
You are receiving this fund as a sub contractor who has not been paid and I will produce all the relevant documents that will make you the beneficiary of this fund without any risk attached to it.
If you are interested and confident in yourself that you are capable of handling such deal kindly reply me by providing a reachable private telephone number so that we will talk things over.
Thanks,
Mr. Eke Johnson
Contract Award Committee Chairman.
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Anti-fraud resources:
