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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Hassan Rasheed Ahmed" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kattamills@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 09:03:11 -0700
Subject: Proposal for Investment!
Dear Director,
I know this proposal will come to you as a surprise but never mind; I am looking for a capable person/Company who can stand confidently with me in this successful business arrangement.before i proceed,my names are Hassan Rasheed Ahmed and it is my pleasure to share this brief with you and also to seek your assistance in the receiving of our consignment funds and gold that was deposited by my father which contains a huge amount of (US$252,000.000.00) million united state dollars and 100 kilograms of gold before his death.,
In this case,i want you to stand as my foreign beneficiary and received the consignment maybe through diplomatic means or bank to bank transfer to secure this fund for future investment.get back to me if this interest you so that i can give you more details of my self and the consignment funds.more information will be giving to you on the best way to received the said funds including the gold involve all together.
I look forward to hear from you.
Best Regard.
Hassan Rasheed Ahmed.
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Anti-fraud resources:
