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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: "Yunusa El-Ali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yunusa_el.ali1@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:07:30 -0700
Subject: Need of Join Venture!!!!
Dear Friend,
My name is Yunusa El-Ali special adviser to Syria President on economics Matters. I have the sum of $45M in bank in Hong Kong that I want you to receive for me. I channel the sum to Hong Kong with the intention to relocate to Europe with my family as a result of the crises in my country which I am totally against and I don’t want to be part of it. fled my country Syria to Saudi Arabia to proceed my trip to Europe but unfortunately the Immigration Unit and other Visa Agencies deny proceeding of my movement out of Saudi Arabia to Europe and I have been in Saudi Arabia with my family for over a Month now. Please I want you to receive the $45M from the bank on my behalf because the fund is not suppose to stay in the account for too long due to the type of the account I have with the bank. I will reward you with reasonable amount or you can suggest the amount you want me to reward you with, please this is urgent. This is legitimate and risk free.
Please reply without delay.
Warm regards,
Yunusa El-Ali
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Anti-fraud resources:
