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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:
- "million 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)
- "confidentiality of this transaction" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "engr.davidomonibeke01@outlook.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.
Fraud email example:
From: OFFICE FILE <offifile14@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <engr.davidomonibeke@yandex.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 10:28:57 +0000
Subject: HELLO DEAR!!
Hello Dear,
I am contacting you to assist me in a claim of USD16 Million Dollars. It is a genuine transaction and we MUST remain fiduciary in all our dealings as i cannot achieve the opportunity without the support of a foreigner. You will be entitled to 35% of the total sum while 65% will be for me and to partner with you for investment in your country, please reply to me if you are interested so as to enable me provide you with more details. You may want to ask why i want to do this, because today if you are following the Nigerian news well you will understand that they so-called insurgency named BOKO HARAM over here are killing people and destabilizing the present Government,hence l have decided to contact you for transfer of this fund so as to enable me leave this country alive. Please get back to me for more details. My Private email (engr.davidomonibeke01@outlook.com). Kindly reply with your private phone number name and private email address for confidentiality of this transaction.
Yours Faithfully,
Engr.David Omonibeke.
Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA
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Anti-fraud resources:
