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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:
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "federal high court" (This court is often mentioned in '419' scams to give the victim a reason why he/she should send thousands of dollars to the scammers. A 'Federal High Court' exists in Germany and Nigeria, but not in other countries, such as the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Senegal, Benin, South Africa or other countries where fake lawyers in scams often claim to be based. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: william johnson <WWW@isis.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: william johnson <imfheadquareter@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2015 03:22:13 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Attn:
Attn:
How are you? I am Dr. White Oba from International Monitory Fund
{IMF}, I am writing in regard of your total Compensation fund of
$2.5million which is here under our custody.
The only thing delaying your total fund of $2.5million here is
the Clean Bill Certificate and that certificate can only be obtain
here in Federal High Court Benin Republic. But all you need to now do
is to reconfirm your full details below so that we can be sure that> you are the real beneficiaries before releasing your fund.
Your full name=
Your Country=
Occupation=
Phone Number=
Age=
Home/office address=
You will receive your fund today and immediately as soon as reconfirm
the details as I instruct. Do you wish to receive your fund through
Bank transfer or ATM card? Chose one so that we can give you the
procedure on how to receive it with out any delay.
Thank you
Dr. White Oba
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Anti-fraud resources:
