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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)
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand united state 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)
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "offshore account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Desil Onal <desilonal400@voila.fr>
Reply-To: desilonal001@voila.fr
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:40:01 -0400
Subject: PLEASE CAN I CONFIDE IN YOU?
--
Dear Friend,
I am Mr Desil Onal, Manager Auditing and Accountancy Department, Bank
of Africa
in (B.O.A) Burkina Faso. I got your email account while searching for
a business
oriented personality and you happen to be the one.
I bring forth a business proposal in the tune of Eight Million Eight Hundred
Thousand United State Dollars Only.($8.8M.US) to be transferred to an offshore
account with your assistance acting as beneficiary and next-of-kin to the
Inheritance funds.If you know you are capable of involving and
partaking in this
transaction, please send down the following personal details to me for
briefing
and more clarification;
(1)Full names:........................ .....
(2)Occupation:................ ..............
(3)Age and Sex:..........................
(4)Marital Status:..........................
(5)Private phone and fax numbers:..................
(6)Current residential address:..............
I am waiting for your urgent reply so that we will starts immediately.
Sorry if
you received this letter in your spam, Due to recent connection error
here in my
country.
Regards,
Mr Desil Onal.
+226 66 66 06 65
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Anti-fraud resources:
