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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 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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- 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: "James Bullock" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jamesbullock1985@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2015 17:56:08 +0100
Subject: YOUR LONG AWAITED FUNDS READY FOR RELEASE
THIS EMAIL IS SENT TO YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR $4.5 MILLION UNITED STATE
DOLLARS UNCLAIMED FUND WHICH HAS BEEN LYING IN THE BANK FOR THE PAST
YEARS. WE HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED BY THE CONCERN AUTHORITY TO HAVE YOUR
FUND RELEASE PROCESS COMPLETED OTHERWISE THE FUND WILL BE DECLARED
UNSERVICEALBE THAT IS WHY I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU TO KNOW THE
REASON WHY YOU HAVEN'T LAID CLAIM TO YOUR FUND. WE HAVE SENT COUPLES
OF EMAILS TO YOU WITHOUT GETTING ANY REPLY FROM YOU. OUR BANK IS READY
AND WILLING TO RELEASE YOUR FUND IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE THE WORLD BANK,
THE UNITED NATION(UN) INCLUDING THE UNITED STATE GOVERNMENT HAVE
SUCCESSFULLY PASSED A MANDATE TO ALL AFRICAN BANKS TO BOOST THIS
EXERCISE OF CLEARING ALL FOREIGN DEBTS OWED TO FOREIGNERS AND OTHER
INDIVIDUALS.
YOU SHOULD ADVISE US ON HOW YOU WANT TO RECEIVE YOUR PAYMENT. WE HAVE
ABOUT TWO (2) METHODS OF PAYMENT WHICH ARE BY.
1. DIRECT BANK TO BANK WIRE TRANSFER. (You shall be requested to
forward your current bank account co-ordinates to receive your funds).
2. ISSUING YOU AN ATM CARD. (We will be issuing you a custom pin based
ATM card which you shall use to withdraw your fund in any ATM machine
in your country but the maximum to withdraw is One Hundred and Fifty
Thousand United State Dollars per day).
TO START PROCESSING THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND, YOU ARE ADVISED TO
CHOOSE ONE PAYMENT METHOD OUT OF THE TWO ABOVE LISTED OPTIONS.
NOTE: YOU ARE ADVICE TO KEEP/TREAT THIS MASSAGE VERY CONFIDENTIAL AND
ALSO CEASE FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANYBODY REGARDING THIS
TRANSACTION TO AVOID COMPLICATION.
YOURS SINCERELY
JAMES BULLOCK
MOBILE NUMBER : +229 688 67 261
PLEASE CALL FOR FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS.
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN PAYMENT
RESOLUTION PANEL ON CONTRACT PAYMENT
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Anti-fraud resources:
