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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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "ecowas " (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- 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: "Mr. Merrill Lynch" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <merril_lynch20000@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2012 00:18:42 -0700
Subject: Attn.
Attention: Winner
If you are the correct owner of this email address, Be glad this day as the result of the ECOWAS Online E-mail Winnings draws and sweepstakes has given $10.5 Million to three (3) active internet users and you were lucky to be one of the users who emerged as a winner with your WINNING NUMBER: ECWS09788 and I Mr. Merrill Lynch have been assigned to assist you in claiming your winnings as soon as possible and will be released to you in record time.
You are therefore advice to contact me urgently with the following information's listed below in your contact mail for quick release of your winning fund to you without delay.
1.FULL NAME:............
2.COUNTRY:............
3.CONTACT ADDRESS:.............
4.PHONE NUMBERS:.........
5.AGE/SEX:.................
6.MARITAL STATUS:...........
7.OCCUPATION/JOB TITLE:........
8.AMOUNT WON:.............
9.WINNING NUMBER:...........
DECLARATION:
I....................Hereby Declear that the above data are true in case of any unforseen circumstance, my next of kin has the right to claim the total winnings. (Fiduciary agent shall act as my agent in facilitating the release of the total fund to me. DATE: ----------
Congratulations once again on your winnings!!!
Looking forward to your swift response.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Merrill Lynch
District Online Cordinator
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Anti-fraud resources:
