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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.
- 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: "SOUTH AFRICA RESERVE BANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <southafrica_reservebank@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 09:02:53 -0500
Subject: YOUR OUTSTANDING PAYMENT HAS BEEN APPROVED.
WELCOME TO THE RESERVE BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA
Headquarters Address: 370, Church Street Pretoria 0002
Branch Address: Hoffman Square,Bloemfontein 9301
TEL+27717650408 FAX:+27862444914
Dear Beneficiary
This letter is from World Fund Discovery Management And Payment Bureau
newly invented by the World Financial Service Authority United States Of
America/United Kingdom in conjunction with South Africa Government
This body was set up to discover an outstanding unpaid fund being owned to
Governments or Individuals all over the world through Contract
Payment/Inheritance Awards.
It will interest you to know that we have discovered an outstanding
unpaid/unclaimed total sum of $2.5 Million USD in your favor and a mandate
has been given to this bank to ensure that this fund gets to you without
any delay.
Note that a special payment arrangement has been made to remit this
payment to you through a Telegraphic Wire transfer. You are hereby
advised to urgently required to Re-confirm to this office your details as listed below
for our proper verification and also to enable us open up communication with
you regarding the release of your fund immediately.
The information required from you to enable us process your payment are as
follows;
(1) Your Full Name:..................
(2) Residential Address:......................
(3) Cell Phone:......................................
(4) Occupation:.....................................
(5) Age:.................................................
(6) Marital Status:.................................
(7) Identification Card{Attachment if any}
You are advised to contact us immediately with the above requested
information to enable a speedy remittance process.Thanks for your
understanding and co-operation
Best regards
Gill Marcus
Governor Reserve Bank of South Africa
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Anti-fraud resources:
