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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- 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.
- cbnlegaldepartment@consultant.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "WORLD BANK/U.N.D.P/ C.B.N" <cbnlegaldepartment@consultant.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 14:21:45 +0100
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION LETTER
(WORLD BANK) [U.N.D.P] IN COLLABORATION WITH
THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. [C.B.N]
Dear Beneficiary,
This is to officially inform you that your long awaited fund
valued at $10.5m has been approved for immediate release to
you. Your name & E-mail id appeared in our payment schedule
list of beneficiaries that will receive their funds in this
3RD Quarter payment of the year.
Your E-mail i.d was mentioned by our security intelligent
monitoring database from the Microsoft, You will receive
your payments either by ATM CARD or Bank direct wire
transfer to your destination local account.
For more verification and authentication you are hereby
advised to contact Barrister Patrick Mundi and Chambers at
the legal department of the paying Bank, The Central Bank of
Nigeria. [C.B.N] at: cbnlegaldepartment@consultant.com
Regards,
Mr.Vincenzo La Via.
World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer(CFO)
( World Bank) Head Office
The World Bank 1818 H Street,
N.W. Washington, DC 20433 U.S.A.
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Anti-fraud resources:
