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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "your country for safe keeping" (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)
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ahmed Sulemani <test.test@yhnmail.com>
Reply-To: ahmedsulemani14@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:50:26 +0300
Subject: My Dear Friend
--
My Dear Friend
Please welcome my message with your sincere heart, My name is Ahmed
Sulemani and I'm 19yrs from Syria I'm the only child of my late father,
Mr. Ghazi Mazhar Qadim, before the death of my late father he gave me a
contact of a Bank in turkey Istanbul that he deposited Seven Million
Five Hundred thousand Euros and i have the deposit document here with
me.
So after the rebels attack our family house in Harem Syria and kill my
father and my mum i have to run away from the back door with the
document and contact details that my late father gave to me. View the
link below and confirm the body of my late father.
http://ewn.co.za/2013/04/18/Harem-residents-live-in-fear
So i manage to escape from the rebels and walk from Syria to Istanbul
for 60 hours. The good news is that i have already located the Bank Head
Office in Istanbul were my late father made the deposited, so I am
contacting you because i went you to help me to receive this money in
your country for security reasons with basic law of European Union, I'm
seeking your cooperation and assistance to help me move my family
inheritance money from Turkey to your country for safe keeping and
investment plans thereafter to continue my study. You have my assurance
that there is no risk involved in this transaction because i have the
original document with me and i have been to the to confirm it. All I
need is your sincere contribution and assistance.
I’m looking forward to hear from you
Best Regards
Ahmed Sulemani
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