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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "charles soludo" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- sanusisanusila@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "SANUSI" <lamidosan10101@att.net>
Reply-To: <sanusisanusila@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 23:04:41 -0800
Subject: DID YOU RECEIVE MY MAIL...
FROM THE DESK OF: SANUSI LAMIDO
GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.
CBN COMPLEX, GARIKI ABUJA,NIGERIA
P.BOX 2356478.
E-MAIL: sanusisanusila@hotmail.com
Attn:
I am the newly appointed governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.You are hereby advised in your own interest to stop further contact with the former Governor Prof. Charles Soludo and his deputy, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia. They are no longer with central bank of Nigeria as their tenure has expired, anybody doing business with them in the name of CBN or Government of Nigeria is doing that at his own risk.
On assumption of office 4th June 2009 I discovered that you are being owed contract/inheritance payment of $7.3 million (United State Dollars) as unpaid contract fund in Contractors Category [A] Record file.Therefore you required to reconfirm your informations for verification and immediate payment within 24 hours.
1. Your full name________________________
2. You Full Address______________________
3. Age, date of birth and gender___________
4. Occupation______________________________
5. Telephone number mobile__________________
6. Home Telephone___________________________
7. Office Telephone_________________________
6. Copy of your identification_____________
7. Mode of payment________________________
You are to forward your response to Mr.Ruben Okoro for him to let you know how and when you are going to receive your fund without any further delay.Contact him through his email service122@info.al or +2347053369767 and explain to him on how you want to receive your fund.
Sincerely,
Dr.Sanusi Lamido
Governor Central Bank of Nigeria.
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Anti-fraud resources:
