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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)
- 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: "ZENITH BANK PLC" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <zenithbplc66@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 2014 17:55:48 +0100
Subject: 48HOURS URGENT NOTICE FOR YOUR ATM CARD
ZENITH BANK INTERNATIONAL
zenith HeightsPlot 87 Ajose Adeogun Street,
Nigeria .
Tel: +234-803-731-2827
Dear Customer,
We the Zenith Bank Plc wish to remind you that your ATM CARD which you abandoned for long has been rewarded to be claimed by you once again and you are advised to contact us right away before it will be too late. We are contacting you because the President of Nigeria ordered that all the overdue abandoned fund should be released for claim by the rightful owners after his meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday.
This ATM CARD was abandoned by you just because of $350 U.S Dollars for delivery to your home address Only and right now you are only allowed for the claim under 48Hours and failing to comply the ATM CARD will be confiscated by the Government of Nigeria and your fund $3.5 Million Us Dollars loaded into the ATM CARD will be transferred into our government treasury.
If you are really interested to claiming your ATM MASTER CARD as instructed, we advice that you submit your information as listed below and to enable prepare your delivery file and get back to you with the instruction of name and address of person the fee will be sent to.
Your full name......
Your full address........
Your Direct Phone Number...............
A copy of your driver's License of International Passport............
We wait to hear from you as soon as possible by today.
ATM OFFICE
ZENITH BANK INTERNATIONAL
MR.GODWIN EMEFIELE
Tel: +234-803-731-2827
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