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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:
- "a project that will be very beneficial to both of us" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ahmed Tayyib Taslim" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tayyib.taslimm4@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:48:47 -0000
Subject: Urgent Response
Hello
I have sent you this message earlier, but your failure to respond has prompted me to re-sending it once again.
I am Mr.Ahmed Tayyib Taslim an attorney and also a Board member in charge of fund Auditing section with BANQUE CENTRALE DES ETATS DE L'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST ( BCEAO )
I have decided to contact you on a project that will be very beneficial to both of us. During our auditing in this Bank, I came across some amount of money belonging to a deceased foreign investor who died with his wife and their only daughter on the Friday, 26 December, 2003 in a plane crash. The fund has been dormant in his account with this Bank without any claim of the fund in our custody from any of his relatives before my discovery.
The said amount is $9.5million (Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars). Please Check the web link for confirmation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3348109.stm
The quest of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and an indigenous Togoliase can not stand as next of kin. I don't want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed Funds after 15 years. Be rest assured of this transaction as it is 100% risk free.
On your response, we shall discuss the method of this transaction.
Sincerely Yours
Ahmed Tayyib Taslim
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Anti-fraud resources:
