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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: rbifundtransfer@foxmail.com
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:43:28 +0100
Subject: [Spam]Transaction Notification
>From The Desk Of
Mrs. Ranky Kumar.
Customers Service/Foreign Transfer Department.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
No, 6 Sansad Marg, Janpath
New Delhi. H.O 110001-India
Tel: +91 965 431 2758
Our ref: Cbi/Ohg/Oxd1/2014
This is a notification letter from the international fund
remittance department of Reserve Bank Of India regarding
a cheque worth of $750,000USD deposited in your favor by
Mr. Neil Trotter, a generous man who won a lottery and
decided to donate 60% of the lottery prize to lucky
individuals through online email selection and according
to him, he confirmed that you were among the lucky ones
to receive the donation and he decided to use our bank
to issue an international cashier's cheque since he came
to India to inspect one of his orphanage home and pleaded
with us to contact you and inform you about it because he
left this morning to Pakistan after depositing the cheque
with us which currently awaits to be cashed and transferred
to your account as soon as we receive a confirmation mail
from you.
Mr. Neil Trotter dropped the bbc news link below to enable you
confirm the authenticity of the lottery and also the donation
(http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-26627075 ).
=========================================
Do Provide Us With The Information Below
=========================================
Full Name:
Country:
Full Address:
Direct Personal Number:
NOTE: If you know you are not the rightful owner of this email
address this notification is sent to, please don't reply this
message and have it deleted.
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Anti-fraud resources:
