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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "cotonou" (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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- thomas.zannous@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "zannouthomas@autistici.org via" <ccanioncq@singularity.fr>
Reply-To: thomas.zannous@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2017 18:20:22 +0100
Subject: Bonjour
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Bonjour,
Je sais que mon message vous parviendra comme une surprise, pour le
simple fait que nous ne nous connaissons pas. Soyez rassuré que ce sont
pour de bonnes intentions. Je suis Thomas Zannou responsable de l'unité
des audits et contrôle des comptes à United Bank for Africa (UBA)
Cotonou-BENIN, je vous contacte pour vous proposer une affaire de
5.000.000 €. A cet effet, je sollicite humblement votre coopération pour
permettre le virement de ces fonds pour notre avantage commun. Ce
transfert est sans risque et doit être traitée avec la plus grande
confidentialité et discrétion. Si vous êtes d'accord veuillez me
répondre pour plus de détails.
Dans l'attente de vous lire recevez l'expression de mes sincères
salutations.
M. Thomas Zannou
Responsable de l'unité des audits et contrôle des comptes à United Bank
for Africa (UBA) Cotonou-BENIN
E-mail : thomas.zannous@gmail.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
