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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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 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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- remittancedepartment01@accountant.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Shri Deepak Singhal" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <remittancedepartment01@accountant.com>
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 11:09:39 +0530
Subject: YOUR UNCLAIMED FUND OF 4.5MILLION DOLLARS
Reserve Bank Of India {RBI}
Address:6,Sansad Marg,
New Delhi -India.Jeevan Bharathi Building,
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110 001
Government Official Code:28961-85A14-C4861
YOUR UNCLAIMED FUND OF 4.5MILLION DOLLARS HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO RESERVE BANK
OF NDIA {RBI} NEW DELHI FOR IMMEDIATE TRANSFER..SEND US YOUR BANK DETAILS
YOUR NAME,YOUR CELLPHONE NUMBER AND YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS TO OUR
EMAIL={remittancedepartment01@accountant.com}
REGARDS
MR Shri Deepak Singhal
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
SIGNED BY
ACCOUNT MANAGER AND BOARD OF FOREIGN REMITTANCE FUND DEPARTMENT OF RESERVE
BANK OF INDIA(R.B.I).
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Anti-fraud resources:
