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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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "your payment is being processed" (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)
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
- "international remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (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: jacksoon@jacksoon.com.tw
Reply-To: mrjohnego100023@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2018 05:42:13 -0800
Subject: GET BACK TO ME
MR JOHN EGO
DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA(CBN)
VERIFICATION OF YOUR PAYMENT/WINNINGS FILE.
DEAR SIR/MADAM
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT FROM THE RECORDS OF OUTSTANDING PAYMENT WITH THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA,YOUR NAME/PARTICULARS WAS DISCOVERED AS NEXT ON
THE LIST OF OUTSTANDING CONTRACTOR/INHERITANCE/LOTTERY WINNER WHO HAVE
NOT RECEIVED THEIR PAYMENT.
I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR PAYMENT IS BEING PROCESSED FROM THE ABOVE PAN
AFRICAN BANK(CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA) AND WILL BE RELEASED TO YOU AS SOON AS
YOU RESPOND TO THIS LETTER. ALSO NOTE THAT FROM THE RECORD IN MY FILE, YOU
ARE FOUND AS ONE OF THE ABOVE BENEFICIARIES FROM THE ABOVE MENTIONED NATIONS
YET TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING PAYMENT OF(US$10.5m)
KINDLY RE-CONFIRM TO ME THE FOLLOWING:
1) YOUR FULL NAMES
2) YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS
3) YOUR FULL BANKING PARTICULAR
4) YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER
5) YOUR OCCUPATION
6) YOUR I.D CARD
KINDLY CHOOSE ONE OPTION BELLOW HOW YOU WANT TO RECEIVE THIS PAYMENT
A. AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE (ATM)
B. DIRECT WIRE TRANSFER TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT
C. DIPLOMATIC CASH DELIVERY TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY
CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MEMO FOR MORE DETAILS AND DO CALL ME OR
SEND ME SMS ON MY PRIVET CELL NUMBER +2349090694996
WAITING TO HEAR YOUR URGENT RESPONSE
MR JOHN EGO
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Anti-fraud resources:
