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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:
- "million us 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned 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: "Helen Smith" <shelen851@yahoo.ie>
Reply-To: shelen569@yahoo.fr
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2013 16:25:37 +0300
Subject: From Miss Helen Smith
Dearest One
Greetings,this letter might surprise you because we have not met neither
in person nor by correspondence. But I believe it is one day that you get
to know somebody either in physical or through correspondence.
I am Miss Helen Smith. I have a proposal to make, that might be of
interest to you. I am in possession of a large sum of money (U.S. $
7,000,000.00) Seven Million US Dollars) The money was inherited from my
late father who was the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Gold and diamond
Mining Corporation during the Sierra Leonian War when Major Johnny Paul
Koromah was The country's president.
The money is of no criminal origin as it was largely realized from black
market sale of alluvial gold dust during the war. The money has been
deposited in a Bank here in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). I now
want to transfer this money abroad and invest it in profitable ventures as
the time is now ripe for such move.
WHAT I ASK YOU TO DO:
1.Firstly to assist me to transfer this money to any stable country
abroad.2.To assist me invest the money in profitable ventures in your
country or any other suitable country where you have good connections.3 To
help me re-locate to the suggested country.4 To manage the money in a
profitable manner preferably a joint venture deal with you.
For your assistance you will get 25% of the total amount Upon your request
I will give you further details of the plans and tell you more about
myself but you must treat as highly confidential for my security.
Regards.
Miss Helen Smith
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