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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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- "services@bryam-adam.co.cc" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Fraud email example:
From: personnel@vru.ac.th
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:23:44 +0700
Subject: POWERED BY MASTERCARD/MICROSOFT INTL
®MASTERCARD/MICROSOFT®INTERNATIONAL
NEW YEAR Mega Winning Notification.
UK Office No 47 Se1 7na – Balking
London United Kingdom 24 hrs.
Dear email user,
Your email address was selected by MasterCard®Int'l/Microsoft®
Corporation UK. in the 2012 International New Year Winning Notification
through the Computerized Email Balloting System in a database of
over one million emails, you have therefore been approved the sum
of 850,000.00,GBP(Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds)
You are advised to contact your Foreign Transfer Manager with the
following details to avoid unnecessary delay and complications
NOTE:You are advice to reply to this email.
Transfer Manager:Bryam Adams.
Email:services@bryam-adam.co.cc
VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM.
(1) Your contact address.
(2) Your Tel/Fax numbers.
(3) Your Nationality/Country.
(4) Your Full Name.
(5) Occupation/Age.
(6) Your Preferred Method of Receiving Your Prize (From Below)
Mode Of Prize Remittance.
(1)Cash Pick-Up (You coming Down to United Kingdom Personally to Pick Your
Prize).
(2)Courier Delivery Of your Certified Winning Cheque Name and other Winning
Documents safely to you.
Congratulations from the Staffs & Members of MasterCard®/Microsoft®
International,Winning Notification.
Sincerely,
Dr.Leslie Spears
MasterCard®/Microsoft®
Winning Notification.
Copyright ©
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Anti-fraud resources:
