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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "30% for you " (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)
- "my names are " (a common phrase found 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: DR ERIC KOLAWOLE <ingelbill@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officemail714@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2015 00:14:18 +0100
Subject: GOOD DAY / RESPOND PROMPTLY TO MY MAIL
Dear Friend
My names are Eric Kolawole General Manager Banking Inspectorate of First Bank.
In brief and in our short divisional inspectorate verification and
audit exercise conducted last quarter ending of December 2014, we
discover abandoned or unclaimed funds for years and even as parties
next of kin could not be trace, but in further verification your name
was included as a proxy next of kin either through transaction you had
with the late beneficiary and therefore, we have decided to contact
you to find out if you will be interested to file a claim as advise
here with, and we are also ready to assist you process the payment on
your name or company name on an instance remittance to any account
you may assign without any legal encumbrances and we share the proceed
on 30% for you and we take 70% for facilitating the release as the
assigned funds has been floating in our escrow account for more than
10 years now.
Anticipating your urgent response for advice.
Regards,
Dr Eric Kolawole
GMBI FIRST BANK PLC
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Anti-fraud resources:
