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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "contact me immediately" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Alhaji Usman Al Ghazel <alghazel123@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2015 01:43:58 -0700
Subject: Very urgent and confidential.
Compliments of the season.
I have contacted you based on a business contract that needed an
urgent attention. We want you to be involved. There are many
contractors who could not turn up for their claims and the time is
very short for them to meet up. All contract payments must be made
before 29th May,2015 which is the official handover day for the new
administration to begin. We therefore want to partner with you to
handle the payment of USD28,700,000 for one of the contracts we gave
out to our cronies. View attached document for more clarification.
Please contact me immediately for more details.
Regards,
Alhaji Usman Ahmed Bamanga Al Ghazeli.
Population Activities Fund Agency.
Abuja, Nigeria.
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Anti-fraud resources:
