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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "transfer into your 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)
- "hundred thousand united state dollars" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Ahmed Zango <ndkmj85@gmail.com>
Reply-To: ahmedzangoo@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2021 16:28:57 -0700
Subject: Please Reply Urgent
Dear Friend,
Please pardon the abruptness of this letter. However strange or
surprising this message might seem to you as we have not met
personally or had any dealings with you in the past. I must apologize
for intruding into your privacy.
I am Mr. Ahmed Zango, Working with a reputable bank here in Burkina
Faso as the manager in audit department. During our last banking
audits we discovered an abandoned account belongs to one of our
deceased customer, a billionaire businessman.
Meanwhile, before i contacted you i have done personal investigation
in locating any of his relatives who knows about the account, but i
came out unsuccessful. I am writing to request your assistance in
transferring Sum of $19.300.000.00 (Nineteen million Three Hundred
Thousand United State Dollars) into your account.
I decided to contact you to act as his foreign business partner so
that my bank will accord you the recognition and have the fund
transfer into your account. When i receive your quick respond the more
details information will be forwarded to you.
I am expecting to read from you as soon as possible you receive this message.
Best Regards
Mr. Ahmed Zango.
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Anti-fraud resources:
