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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "your country for safe keeping" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: From Mr Kabiru Wahid <qstilu@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2018 12:16:32 +0100
Subject: REPLY ME VERY URGENT!
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Hello Dear Friend!I have a business proposal for you which involves a
huge amount of money that run into millions of US dollars that i want
to move or transfer to your country for safe keeping and investment,
please this is not a spam, its a real business that will benefit both
of us. Please try as much as possible to get back to me on this, i
will explain more to you when you finally respond.Yours truly,prove
your integrity together with your full Information.
Your Name..........................
Your Home Address.............
Your Age..............................
Sex.......................................
Your Home Telephone..........
Your Personal Number.........
Fax Number..........................
Receiving Country................
Occupation...........................
I am waiting for your urgent respond to enable us proceed further for
the transfer of this fund into your account.
Yours faithfully,
Mr.Kabiru Wahid
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Anti-fraud resources:
