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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:
- "chief auditor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: Mark Loson <markloson2010@gmail.com>
Reply-To: marloson@ymail.com
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2012 04:57:02 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY TO CLAIM THE FUND
I AM Mr. Mark Loson, THE CHIEF AUDITOR INCHARGE OF FOREIGN
REMITTANCE UNIT OF
OUR BANK B.O.A,BANK OF AFFRICA AND I HAVE HAD THE INTENT
TO CONTACT YOU OVER THIS FINANCIAL
TRANSACTION WORTH THE SUM
($19.330.000.00Million USD) FOR OUR SUCCESS.THIS IS
AN
ABANDONED SUM THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR BANK FOREIGN CUSTOMERS
WHO DIED ALONG
WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY THROUGH PLANE CRASH DISASTER SINCE FEW
YEARS AGO.
(CONFIRM THIS) www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/index.html
YOU
HAVE THE ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY TO CLAIM THE FUND HENCE YOU ARE A FOREIGNER
AS
SOON AS YOU REPLY, STEP TO FOLLOW IN ORDER TO FINALIZE THIS
TRANSACTION
IMMEDIATELY WOULD BE DECLEARED TO YOU. I EXPECT YOU'RE URGENT
COMMUNICATION
on: +226 74 67 13 18
Sincerely Yours
Mr. Mark Loson
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Anti-fraud resources:
