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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:
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "contract award committee" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: "COLLINS HOPEWELL" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <nnpc2011@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 19:05:16 -0700
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Collins Hopewell, I am the chief Accountant and also a member of Contract award Committee of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation under the supervision of former President GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN regime.
After due consultation with my colleagues of the committee, the Federal Ministry of Finance , I am duly mandated to contact you and to arrange with you for a possible transfer of an amount of money US$100 million in our possession which represents an over Invoiced Sum resulting from various Contracts awarded and executed by some famous firms (local/foreign) to Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation of which principal amount has been paid off to the company already.
You will get 30% of the whole sum after the transfer. If you are interested, get back to me for detailed clarifications and the modalities involved.
Thanks.
COLLINS HOPEWELL.
NNPC.
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Anti-fraud resources:
