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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "United Bank" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <remittancedept@ubabankghana.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2020 00:43:15 -0700
Subject: TRANSACTION NOTIFICATION ON YOUR ACCOUNT !!!
From the Desk of Mr Ben Kofi
Foreign Remittance Department
United Bank for Africa,
Accra Ghana.
Transaction Code:UBAGH4710
File:C/ALS094
Reference:Contract Funds(US$ 27,400,000.00)
Dear Valued Customer
I am Mr Ben Kofi working with Foreign Remittance Department,United Bank for Africa Accra Ghana
I am delighted to inform you that during an audition here in my office today we come across your file of funds amounting to US$ US$ 27,400,000.00 being categorized as Contract Funds and your payment profile and name is still reflecting here in our central computer as unclaimed funds.
May i humbly inform you that i have been mandated to contact you by our bank management if you are to renew the contract agreement or you want your funds to be transferred to you.
Please do reconfirm to us as a matter of urgency with your complete bank details where the funds will be transferred to you.
United Bank for Africa is grateful for your continued patronage and we look forward to being of greater service to you and your business.
Thanks and best regards
Ben Kofi
Foreign Remittance Department
United Bank for Africa
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Anti-fraud resources:
