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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (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: Blessing Sanko <blessing404real4@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:08:13 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hello Dear Friend
Hello Dear Friend
how are you today i hope that every things is OK with you my name is
Blessing sanko it is my great pleasure to contact you through this
medium requesting for a relationship and i know that you will grant my
request in good faith and understanding while we see what happened in
future. please reply me as urgent as you can for me to send my picture
and details about my self, you should remember that distance, color,
language or race cannot be barriers.
i will be waiting to hear from you
Your new friend.
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Anti-fraud resources:
