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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:
- "dearest one," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "abidjan" (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: Audet Bernard <audetbernard01@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Audet Bernard <audetbernard02@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 2016 01:10:25 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From Ms. Audet Bernard.
Dearest
One,
Â
I am Miss Audet Bernard 22 years of age the only child/Daughter of Mrs. Angelina Bernard whom was killed by the rebels that attacked our country Cote d'Ivoire West Africa and took over our town (San-Pédro). I ran to Abidjan the economical capital of Cote d’Ivoire from were I am contacting you. Before the death of my Late Mother, she told me that she deposited a sum of US$3,200,000 (Three million two hundred united states dollars) in a bank in Cote d’Ivoire in my name as the next of kin.Â
Â
I am contacting you with due sense of humanity and responsibility and with few awareness that you will give it a sympathetic and mutual consideration. I am honorably seeking your assistance in the following ways:Â
(1)To help me and receive this fund into your bank account.Â
(2) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education.
(3)To provide good investment plans for the fund. I am willing to offer you 30% of the total sum as compensation for your effort /input after the successful transfer of this fund to your nominated account overseas before the investments starts; and I have mapped 5% for any expenses that might be incurred during the course of this transaction.
Furthermore, you can indicate your option towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within a stipulated period of time you signify your interest to assist me. I am waiting for your response as soon as possible.
Thanks and God bless you.Â
Yours
Faithfully,
Miss Audet
Bernard.
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Anti-fraud resources:
