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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR JAMES PETERSON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrjamespeterson202@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 29 May 2012 20:41:40 +0800
Subject: EARLIER APPROVED
DEAR SIR,
CONFIRM IF YOU ARE STILL IN NEED OF YOUR CONSIGNMENT/FUND BECAUSE YOU WILL BE RECEIVING YOUR FUND FROM TRILLION STARS OFFSHORE BANK UK .
THIS TIME AROUND IS GOING TO BE BANK TO BANK TRANSFER AS EARLIER APPROVED.
KINDLY FILL THE BELLOW INFORMATION :
PERSONAL DETAILS
Dear Sir/Madam,
For us to start the transfer process with MT103 we will need the following details below. Thank you
BANK NAME:
BANK ADDRESS:
BANK MANAGERS NAME:
BANK TEL:
BANK FAX:
BANK EMAIL ADDRESS:
ACCOUNT HOLDERS NAME:
CUSTOMER SWIFT CODE:
CUSTOMER ACCOUNT NUMBER:
CUSTOMER ADDRESS:
CUSTOMER TEL:
CUSTOMER FAX:
CUSTOMER EMAIL ADDRESS:
AMOUNT TO BE TRANSFER:
CURRENCY TYPE:
BENEFICIARY NAME:
However, before we can proceed and for security reasons can you please send us a copy (as an
attachment, scanned or otherwise) of your identification along with the details above as soon as you
can.
Any ONE of the following forms of ID will suffice.
Driver's License (National or International)
International Passport
National ID Card.
REPLY NOW
MR JAMES PETERSON
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Anti-fraud resources:
