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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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: frankbil20028@frankb.com
Reply-To: frankbil20028@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 18:57:01 +0100
Subject: IMPORTANT
Dear friend,
I am seeking your assistance in repatriating certain sums of dollars
to your personal or company bank account.the fund was meant to be paid to
my client but he died without claiming the fund and i have all the up-date
with the back up documents to the fund so i will need your help and to
release the fund and we will share it together as the bank is waiting on
me to claim the fund without must delay.
This transaction is 100% risk free and it will not take us more than 5
working days to see to the end of it once you are willing to work with me
on this.
Note that your assistance will be based on percentage of total sum paid
to your bank account.
But assure me on:-
(1) Can you handle this project?
(2) Can I give you this trust?
(3) you will get 30% of the total sum if you work with me.
I expect your urgent response if you can handle this project with your
full details.
Best regards.
Frank Bill
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Anti-fraud resources:
