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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:
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Banque Commerciale du Burkina" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <akum2@techie.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 00:56:24 -0000
Subject: -Good day Beloved, I need your help please
Good day,
I am Mr Obasal Akum a chartered accountant here at Banque Commerciale du
Burkina (BCB) Burkina faso.
Late Muammar Gaddafi has a fixed deposit of Three Million United State of
America Dollars (US$3.000,000.00) Only. in our banking record to this
deposit, there was no NEXT OF KIN specify for inheriting the amount and i
want to transfer this fund out of my country and close the account before
the end of this year record keeping.
Confirmation of his death at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15396758
Note: I have all the legal proof/documents to backup for the claim and
success of transferring the fund to your bank account.
Am hereby seeking your help to provide me with your full contact
informations for transfer this fund to your account. I intend to give you
50% of the total amount as soon as the fund is transfered to your bank
account.
Please for any clarification call me: +22676730670
Thanks and God bless you.
Regards
Obasal Akum
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Anti-fraud resources:
