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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)
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Helen Orieme <oriemehelen1@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: oriemehelen16@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:31:42 +0100 (BST)
Subject: HELLO
Dear friend,
Greetings to you and your family. Please don't be offended because i know you do not know me but i really need your help in transferring the sum of (5 million dollars) into a foriegn account within 14 banking days, please if you know you can assist me then contact me with your full contact address.
I will be glad to recieve your response and due to your response it will enable me to brief you more on how to transfer this fund into your account or your credit card if the need maybe, please if you have any question you're very very free to ask me and i will be glad to answer your questions to my ability, thanks for your understanding and i am hoping to recieve your response.
Please send the bellow informations to me for trust.
1. NAME IN FULL:......................... .......
2. ADDRESS:...................... .................
3. NATIONALITY:.................. .................
4. AGE:.......................... ...................
5. SEX........................... ...................
6. OCCUPATION:................... ...................
7. MARITAL STATUS:....................... ...........
8. PHONE......................... ...................
9. FAX:.......................... ...................
I LOOKING FORWARD RECEIVING YOUR RETURN MAIL.
THANKS AND HAVE A GREAT DAY
KIND REGARDS,
FROM HELEN
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Anti-fraud resources:
