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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:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "might come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "trunk boxes" (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)
- "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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- anuar.bin.ghani@mail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "WFB Loan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info@wfbnet.com>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 14:18:15 +0800
Subject: I Await Your Reply...
Greetings,
This letter might come to you as a surprise but it is coming with the best of intentions and will be of mutual benefit to all the parties involved.
I am an associate to the first son of Gaddafi, the Libyan President, hereafter referred to as my client.
I am writing to solicit your assistance to secure funds that are already in Asia with a security company. The fund in question is in a total of $60,000,000 (sixty Million United States Dollars) in $100 bills and stashed in four trunk boxes and was shipped out of Libya through a diplomatic means by a security company and they are not aware of the real content of the boxes for security reasons.
The boxes are already in Asia and under the custody of a security company. For your assistance in getting the boxes out from the security company and securing the funds, we will give you 20% of the total fund.
NOTE: There is no risk involved in this project because I am involved as my Client’s confidant. Therefore contact me immediately on (email:anuar.bin.ghani@mail.com) for further directives. Please you should keep this transaction a top secret as we are prepared to do more business with you pending your approach towards this project. I await your urgent response.
Thanks.
ANUAR BIN GHANI
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