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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "MS OKONJO N. IWEALA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <MSOKONJOIWEALA@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 10:10:59 +0100
Subject: OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION
OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION
This is to officially notify you that after due consultations from the ministry of works regarding your contract sum which is valued 8.5 million US dollars which has been withheld for payment, It has been approved by the office of the ministry of finance for release.
This development is coming after 2 days rigorous meetings between the US high commission to Nigeria and the ministry of works which was held on Monday 15th to 16th of July 2013. At the end of this meeting it was agreed that every outstanding contract payments owned should be paid to avoid sanction from the INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO) and INTERNATIONAL MONETRY FUNDS.
Furthermore , all the security agencies which include US homeland security, FBI, CIA and the international criminal court of justice has been informed to avoid breach of agreement .
To this effect you have been advised to provide the following information’s to the ministry of finance for the immediate release of your funds valued 8.5 million US dollars.
Full Name.
Address:
Email address
Telephone:
Mobile:
Fax:
Bank Name:
Bank Address:
Account No.
Routing No.:
Swift Code:
Account Name:
NOTE: You are to pay a bank charging fee of $450.00 dollars which is as a result of banking rules.
Please kindly ignore this message if you are not ready to receive your contract payment of 8.5 million US dollars.
MS OKONJO N. IWEALA
(Minister of finance federal republic of Nigeria)
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Anti-fraud resources:
