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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)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: mark <pedrommark@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:44:00 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Confidential
Dear Friend,
I am Mr Mark Pedro, the manager of Auditing and Accounting department of Lloyds Bank TSB London. In my department, i discovered an abandoned sum of US$20 Million dollars (Twenty-million Dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers(John Shumejda) who died in a plan crash on 4 January 2002.
You can view this CNN site for more details.
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/04/england.plane/
All I need is for you to get me a good current account in your bank where I can move this money into. l will need the following information from you.
1.Full Names and Contact Address
2.Contact Telephone Numbers
3.Nomminated Bank Account for the Transfer
4.Photopage of Any Form of ID
5.Occupation/Age.
There is practically no risk involved; it will be simple Bank- to-Bank transfer. I hope you understand my situation.Take my word.
Thank you and God
bless.
Regards.
Mark Pedro.
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Anti-fraud resources:
