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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:
- "united state of america" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "U.S GOVERNMENT" <customercareseriveremitdept@gmail.com>
Reply-To: departmentofthetreasury@outlook.com
Date: Tue, 12 May 2015 11:33:57 -1000
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?RGVhciBCZW5lZmljaWFyeSxQbGVhc2UgcmVzcG9uZCB0byB0aGlzIGVtYWlsIGlmIHlvdQ==?=
=?UTF-8?B?IGFsaXZlLD8/Pz8/4oCP4oCPLg==?=
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Address as text 1818 H Street NW
ZIP 20433
Complex World Bank Headquarters
City Washington
State District of Columbia
Country U.S.A.
Tel: +15094497108
Be reliably informed that we have been ordered by the United State of
America government in conjunction with the un/imf/interpol/FBI to
credit the sum of $5.5m into your expected bank account so do confirm
to us your
current receiving banking details for the swift transfer, get back to
us with the needed information to enable us them process your
transaction file.
Bank Name: Bank Address: Account No: Swift Code: Routing No:
Beneficiary Name: Address: Phone Number: Copy of passport.
Regards,
Dr. Riaan Stassen,
Group Managing Director,
World Bank
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Anti-fraud resources:
