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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- 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.
- mrjb433@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Jean Barseb" <jean.barseb@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrjb433@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 19:29:15 +0100 (BST)
Subject: PERSONAL ENQUIRY.
Attn: Sir/Madam,
I am Mr. Jean Barseb the auditor in charge of foreign remittance department of one of our regional bank in Benin republic.
I m seeking your consent to present you as the next of kin to a deceased customer of our bank who accidentally died in 2003 so that the bank will not confiscate his deposit of 22,100,000 and return it to Government purse.
I will like you to forward to me your contact address and your direct telephone numbers for more clarification regarding this transaction.
If you agree to my business proposal, further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as I receive your return mail through this my contact id: mrjb433@gmail.com
Regards,
Mr. Jean Barseb.
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Anti-fraud resources:
