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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million united states 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.
Fraud email example:
From: Miss Emmanuella Uzoamaka <zuonce@linuxmail.org>
Reply-To: <emmanuella_amadi@religious.com>
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 18:40:23 +0000
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam,
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Miss Emmanuella uzoamaka Amadi 24years old. My father was a very wealthy oil
merchant and businessman in Ivory coast. MY father was poisoned to death by his
brothers because they want to take over his properties and wealth.
My father left the sum of Ten Million United States Dollars in a fixed/suspense
account for me which i want you to stand as my trustee to claim this from the
bank.
Note that you are to contact me back on my email address for more details about
it. emmanuella_amadi@religious.com
Thanks and God bless.
Miss Emmanuella Uzoamaka Amadi
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Anti-fraud resources:
