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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:
- "economic and financial crimes commission" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "(efcc)" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real EFCC does not contact victims to offer to get their money back because that is near impossible. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "(ecowas)" (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.
- 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.
- officedhl99@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: EFCC OFFICE <efccr7@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: EFCC OFFICE <aol.aol2014@yandex.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 14:17:54 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Greetings!
Economic & Financial Crime Commission
(efcc) Foreign Operations Dept,
You are receiving this message from Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in alliance with economic community of West African States (ECOWAS). We have been working towards the eradication of fraudsters and scam Artists in Western part of Africa With the help of United States Government and the United Nations. We have been able to track down so many of this scam artist in various parts of African countries and they are all in our custody.
We have been able to recover so much money from these scam artists. The United Nation Anti-crime commission and the United State Government have ordered the money recovered from the Scammers to be shared among 50 Lucky victims around the globe.
This email is been directed to you because your email address was found in one of the scam Artists file and computer hard disk in our custody here, therefore you have being compensated with $1.500, 000 (One million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars).
Now you are advised to contact DHL for the immediate delivery of your ATM Visa Card worth of $1.5 million. Fill your information bellow when contacting DHL Courier Company Benin republic.
Full Name:----------
Home Address:----------
Your country:----------
Your phone number:----------
A copy of your I identity:......
You can forward your information to DHL Courier Email address as bellow: (officedhl99@gmail.com)
Best Regard,
Mr. Stéphane Bonnardel.
Chairman economic & financial crime commission
(EFCC) foreign operations dept
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Anti-fraud resources:
