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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "executive governor" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned 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: Godwin Emefiele <goddyemef@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2019 16:19:23 -0700
Subject: INFORMATION
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CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
TINUBU SQUARE LAGOS
FROM THE DESK OF:GODWIN EMEFIELE
EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.(CBN)
OUR REF: CBN/IRD/CBX/021/19.
ATTN: SIR/MADAM
MY NAME IS GODWIN EMEFIELE, GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. YOUR
LONG AWAITED CONTRACTUAL AMOUNT OF $12.3M HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR
PAYMENT BY THE PRESIDENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA. THE MONEY HAS
BEEN MOVED TO OUR CORRESPODENT BANK, BANK OF AMERICA. NOW YOU ARE TO
FORWARD YOUR CONTACT DETAILS FOR RECORDS AND DUE DILIGENCE PURPOSES
SO AS TO WIRE THE FUND TO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT.
1. YOUR FULL NAME:
2. YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS
3. YOUR CONTACT CELL PHONE NUMBER:
4. YOUR AGE:
5. YOUR SEX:
6. YOUR OCCUPATIONS:
7. YOUR COUNTRY AND CITY:
BEST REGARDS,
GODWIN EMEFIELE
GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
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Anti-fraud resources:
