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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Commercial Bank in Basel <i---------mf1@att.net>
Reply-To: recordsrecordscontent@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:24:07 -0800 (PST)
Subject: RE:REQUESTED INVESTMENT PROFIT.........
Sir,
We may not have known each other previously but I have strong reason to contact you right now. I am a banker with a very influential commercial bank in Basel, Switzerland. A very good customer of mine has requested me to contact a business man in your country that can assist with an urgent deal that involves about US$75 million. This customer is a senior official with the government of his country in Africa. If you may be interested then I shall have to verify your credentials as a business man or investor before you may participate.
Pardon me but I shall not give you my full names nor shall I relate details of the plan until I have heard from you indicating your possible interest and co-operation. This also will ensure that my identity as a banker is not jeopardized. Please contact me and I shall give you more details. For now, call me Ruben.
Sincerely,
Ruben.
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Anti-fraud resources:
