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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:
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "abuja" (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: PAYMENT OFFICE <exdeliverservice@gmail.com>
Reply-To: payoverdue9@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2022 03:55:15 -0700
Subject: Attachment is the copy of the bank draft Accrued Interest Payment
Valued 200.300.00. The information are as follows:
Zenith Bank Plc Asokoro
No 65 Yakubu Gowon way Asokoro
Abuja Nigeria.
Dear Beneficiary ,
I know that this will come to you as a surprise this is to inform you
that Mr. President have instructed me to release your Accrued Interest
Payment Valued at 2.3Million into your Account and I have tried every
thing humanly possible to contact you regarding to this Fund since all
these days but I couldn't get you. In respect of this you are advised
to act immediately and forward all the necessary information that
required to enable me release your payment without any further delay.
Attachment is the copy of the bank draft Accrued Interest Payment
Valued 200.300.00. The information are as follows:
1. Your personal telephone and fax numbers
2. Your full address
3. A scanned copy of your international passport
4. Your full banking information.
Note I don't have any time to waste towards your payment because I
have wasted a lot of time by contacting you since all this while and
you have only but 3 working days to receive your payment otherwise
your payment will canceled so I am advising you to follow up the
instruction as noted to avoid payment cancellation. I will be looking
forward to hearing from you about this matter.
I await your swift response
Regards
Dr. Jim Ovia"
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Anti-fraud resources:
