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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)
- "money laundering" ("anti-terrorist", "anti-money laundering" or "drug-free" certificates are a common way for criminals in fake lottery scams and other Advance Fee scams to get you to send money to them. There are no such certificates in the real banking world. )
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Teodore Nguema Obiang <res199p8o@verizon.net>
Reply-To: tobiang@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 14:13:02 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Proposal
Dear Friend,
Do accept my apology if this mail violates your personal principle and ethics. My name is Teodoro Obiang. I am seeking a reliable partner to help me out of an imminent debacle as my business interests is currently under serious threat from government authorities in Europe and the Americas. Few months ago, investigators in the United States and Europe have lunched series of search into my business concerns claiming that I established dummy companies with the purpose of transferring monies out of my country. Now they are trying to link this to a money laundering offence to have my funds confiscated. To this end, we are seeking reliable individuals who can help us to hold some of our funds in Europe.
I have confidentially discussed this issue with my Father and we agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with. We thus propose to do business with you, standing in as a government contractor in Equatorial Guinea we shall process documents and have some cash released to your nominated bank account as payment for contracts done in our country. This transaction is totally free of risk and troubles as the fund is legitimate and does not originate from drug, money laundry or any other Illegal act. On your interest, let me hear from you for further details.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/europe/for-obiangs-son-high-life-in-paris-is-over.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Thank you.
Teodorin
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Anti-fraud resources:
