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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:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "here in united kingdom" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Catherine" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <catherineasworth11@qq.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 11:12:25 -0400
Subject: Re!!
MY NAME IS CATHERINE ASWORTH HEAD OF COMPUTING DEPARTMENT HERE IN UNITED KINGDOM.THIS MAIL IS VERY CONFIDENTIAL.
I WANT TO TRANSFER 15M GBP. THAT BELONGS TO MY LATE CLIENT;HE IS A DIRECTOR AND OWNER OF PETROCHEMICAL SERVICE. HE DIED WITHOUT A WILL.BASE ON MY INVESTIGATION, I FOUND OUT THAT NO ONE IS AWARE OF THIS ACCOUNT.
HOWEVER, I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE AND COOPERATION TOWARDS THIS. I WILL LIKE YOU TO PROVIDE AN EMPTY BANK ACCOUNT WHERE THE FUND WILL BE TRANSFERRED.
THEN AFTER THE TRANSFER. I WILL IMMEDIATELY VISIT YOUR COUNTRY FOR THE SHARING. I WILL RECEIVE 60% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT AND YOU 35%, REMAINING 5% WILL BE FOR ANY EXPENSES INCURRED.
REGARDS
CATHERINE ASWOTH
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Anti-fraud resources:
