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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:
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "utmost confidentiality" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: bpe bpp <bpe5000@ok.net>
Reply-To: bpe <ddb333@voila.fr>
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:12:56 +0100 (CET)
Subject: require yr. attn.
good day,
i am Mr Davidson lampty,i am contacting you for a business transaction and investment, i and my colleagues have the sum of eighteen million five hundred thousand united states dollars only which we got from over inflated crude oil contracts awarded to foreign contractors in the Abidjan national petroleum corporation. we are seeking your assistance and permission to remit this sum into any account of your choice abroad. your commission will be 30% of the total sum while 5% will be for local and international miscellaneous expenses incurred during the transfer. please, notify me of your acceptance to this business proposal. The men involved are men in the government, so the transaction requires utmost confidentiality. For the purpose of communication in this matter, we need
your private phone and fax numbers.
please treat with utmost confidentiality.
thanks for your c-operation.
davidson lampty
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Bu e-posta Ok.net sistemleri kullanilarak gonderilmistir.
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Anti-fraud resources:
