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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "my names are " (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- colbriandeniskent@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Col: Brian D Kent" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <colbriandeniskent@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:38:03 -0000
Subject: Your Trust Is All We Need..
Hello Friend,
I hope my e-mail meets you well. I am in need of your assistance. My names are Col. Brian Dennison Kent of the Engineering Unit of US Military here in Ba'qubah in Iraq; we have about $10 Million that we want to move out of the country. This money was found in boxes some time ago during our routine raid around the base.
My partners and I need a good partner out there, someone we can trust to receive the funds on our behalf. It is oil money and legal.
The most important thing is; "Can We Trust you"?
Once the funds get to you, simply take out 20% as your share and keep the remaining 80% for us. Your own part of this deal is to find a safe place where the funds can be sent to, ours is sending it to you safely.
Also you can view this Link for proper verification
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
If you are interested I will furnish you with more details upon receipt of your response and contact details. But I can assure you the whole process is simple and we must keep a low profile at all times.
I look forward to your reply and co-operation.We have kept this money for so long but right now the US President, Barack Obama said he is pulling us out so I must have this cash out immediately. Reply me at colbriandeniskent@gmail.com
Regards,
Col. Brian Kent
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Anti-fraud resources:
