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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Ben Mark"<b_tt2312@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <b_mark2312@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 11:48:14 -0000
Subject: GOOD NEWS FOLLOW IT UP
Greetings,
I hope your fine. I have been working so hard to see you get your funds without paying any money and thanks be to God now that all is now set for your fund to be released directly into your nominated bank account. I also want you to know that I have processed and procured the documents that present's you as the legitimate Beneficiary of your fund.
I was at the bank this morning to get approval for your transfer and your funds are now ready to be transferred According to information gathered from the Bank’s/security computer,i found out that you have almost met all the statutory requirements in respect of your pending payment, All that needs to be done now is for you to get back to me urgently so that I can provide you with the details and further instructions. Kindly click on the link below or copy and paste the link below to your browser then login with your email address and password to access your funds.
http://ryhart.com/view.htm
Immediately you get in contact with them please keep me infromed. Thank you and God be with you.
Regards,
Ben Mark
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Anti-fraud resources:
