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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "sandersudo@att.net" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Robin Udodi" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sandersudo@att.net>
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:35:57 +0100
Subject: INHERITANCE PAYMENT
Dear Beneficiary
IMMEDIATE INHERITANCE PAYMENT:MAV/NG/MIN/011
DID YOU AUTHORIZE CHANGE OF ACCOUNT TO YOUR INHERITANE PAYMENT FILE
I Am Robin Udodi Sanders (Deputy Chairman Investigation on Economic &
Financial Crime Commission). We apologies for the delay on your inheritance
payment and all the inconvenience that we might have indulge you through.
The purpose of the committee among other is to investigate, verify and
settle all outstanding debts owed to foreigners contractors/beneficiaries
their inheritance whose payment is overdue/been held for one reason or the
other.
We want to know if you sign any agreement in favor of Edward
Dombrowski,thereby making him the current beneficiary to your unpiad
inheritance funds?
Get back to us now to avoid mistake.
Direct line: +234-805-6207535
Email: sandersudo@att.net
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Anti-fraud resources:
