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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "STEVE ANDERSON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <andersonsteve28@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:06:27 -0700
Subject: RE-NOTIFICATION OF UNDELIEVERED CONSIGNMENT
C/O DISPATCH DIRECTOR
Mr Steve Anderson (AFRICA)
WWW.AFRICA.DHL.COM
DEAR VALUED CUSTOMER,
RE-NOTIFICATION OF UNDELIEVERED CONSIGNMENT
With utmost good faith and confidentiality in respect to the followings
underlisted informations.
PARCEL NUMBER: CZ19827741JB
FREIGHT NUMBER: LL-003/AAC/2008
PARCEL WEIGHT: 32.73KGS
CASING COLOUR: BLACK
CONTENT DESCRIPTION QUANTITY TEXTURE
ROLEX WRIST WATCH 25PIECES 100% PURE GOLD
ROLLS ROYS RINGS 10PIECES 100% DIAMOND
NECK LACE 8PIECES 100% DIAMOND
DIGITAL CAMERA 2PIECES
LAPTOP COMPUTER 5PIECES
A CERTIFIED CHEQUE $250,000USD
Due to improper allocation and registration of your consignment with our office (DHL) for shipment which was scheduled to you, we could not locate your information for delivery of the above listed items only to find your email address attached to the consignment, although no item is decleared missing.
Please re-confirm if the above stated content are correct. Kindly write through this medium with immediate effect for proper arrangement of the delivery of your consignment to you without further delay of any kind.
We apologise for the delay in delievering your consignment and any inconvinience this might have cost you. bear with us, for security purpose we shall send to you a new tracking code from Nigeria.
In response to this email, Kindly include your mailing address and telephone number(s) proper shipment and delivery of your consignment to you. Please bear with us for the little inconvinience due to our misconduct.
Thank you and God bless you for your patience
Mr Steve Anderson
Dispatch DIRECTOR for DHL
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Anti-fraud resources:
