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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: "Alhaji Gagha Sherazee" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <alhaji.sherazee@gazeta.pl>
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2012 00:39:51 +0800
Subject: From The Desk Of Alhaji Gagha Sherazee
Dear Friend,
My name is Alhaji Gagha Sherazee, a libyan but a Canadian national. I am an international consultant with oil industry Based in Libya.
I seek your consent for your company to be used in an oil sales deal. My clients are top employees of an oil firm
and wish to have a reputable company to act as a partner in a deal to be executed next week.
They have found a Buyer and the Buyer has made payment without the knowledge of the Government because of our interest as we have done with him last year and we need to use your company details/account to use to receive the Over Invoice payment from the buyer and you earn the
brokerage of 40% for using your company details/account for the over invoice of Euro:38,000.000.00
The draft payment that have just been made to the Citibank Hanover Square Branch London for payment of the sales which has to be sent to you for your perusal and confirmation.
What we want you to do after your verification of my proposal and confirmed it legal and not fraud then you are to open Non-Resident Online Account with the Citibank Handover Square London, so that the Over Invoice of the Euro:10,000.000.00 will be paid into the new online for onward transfer to your country and wire ours to the account we will give to you.
Right now we are negotiating for a 12 month revolving contract of 8 million barrels per month/deal.
Do please
confirm your interest in this transaction by forwarding the following information on your response:
Company Name/Address:
Your Name:
Your Address:
Country:
Age:
Sex:
Occupation:
Position:
Telephone/ Mobile & Fax:
Thanks and regards.
Alhaji Gagha Sherazee
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Anti-fraud resources:
