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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:
- "activation fee" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "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)
- "oceanicbankinterna@qq.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Sam Woods" <ksjuniorchutishic@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: "Mr. Sam Woods" <oceanicbankinterna@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 07:40:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD, CODE (ATM-0811)
 Attention: Dear,
I have contacted my secretary to confirm if you have received the compensation draft check of ($2.4 million united state dollars. which I issued in your name, but he told me that he could not send it to you because of the courier charges. Now I have called my Bank to cancel any payment regards to the draft check and then authorized them to transfer the payment into ATM card in your name which they did.
As of now be informed that I paid all the charges except the activation fee the ATM card is going to be in your name, but to reactivate the ATM card you have to forward your current information's as requested below to the Bank then they will activate your ATM and send the ATM card and send it to you immediately .Here are the information's you have to forward to the bank:
1. YOUR FULL NAMES : ........2. Postal ADDRESS: .........3. PHONE NUMBER:.............4. EMAIL ADDRESS:............6. SEX & AGE:................7. OCCUPATION:...............8. COPY OF YOUR ID CARD:.....
Contact Director, ATM Foreign Operation Dept. of Diamond Bank PlcDirector: Dr. Raymond IbruPhone: + 22999165308Phone : +22998713794E-mail: oceanicbankinterna@qq.com
I HEREBY ISSUED YOU THE CODE OF THEIR CONDUCT, WHICH IS (ATM-0811) SO makesure you INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING THE ATM CARD CENTER BY USING ITAS YOUR SUBJECT.
Get back to me once you received the ATM CARD ok. Thanks and God bless you.
Regards from your business partnerMr. Sam Woods.
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