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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:
- "fund beneficiary" (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: "USBANK" <expresso@smo.com.br>
Reply-To: usbank1@mail.ru
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2019 03:01:22 -0700
Subject: REF:- INSTRUCTION TO CREDIT YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE SUM OF (US$10.5
Million) 191.98.183.155
- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -
Us Bank
Connecticut Ave. NW,
Ste. 510. Washington,
DC 20036
Attention: Fund Beneficiary.
This is to inform you that the U.S Government has instructed us to remit the sum of $5. Million US dollar into your account, the reason for this is because your name
was among the scam victims that lost a lot of money to African and European Fraudsters, you are hereby advised to without delay stop all you have going on between you
and anybody on internet because you will end up at nothing, hence, there are two options to receive your funds.
(1) By Bank to Bank Wire Transfer
(2) By Atm Card.
(3) Certify Bank Draft
We are waiting your immediate response with your information to enable this bank proceeds immediately with the transfer of your fund and serve you better.
Full Name....................
Home Address.................
Age/Occupation..............
Valid Phone number............
Your Country........
Any Of Your Identity Card........
Do not send money upfront fee to anyone from Europe or African again for what so ever reason. The US bank will immediately remit your account once I reconfirm your
banking details.
Congratulations
..
Mr. Rick Ruzzi
Executive Region Manager
USBANK.
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Anti-fraud resources:
