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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:
- "waiting for your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA <neese.allen57@gmail.com>
Reply-To: firstb42@aol.com
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2022 12:42:32 +0100
Subject: VERY URGENT
What is going on ? Are you much alive??, because we received a letter from
Mr. Joe Thomson from Canada that you are Dead and asked him to forward his
Citibank account as your next of kin to claim your fund.
Are you also aware of this? Because your fund $18.753 million USD was
Approved on 4th of August 2021 as your name was among those published in
our national newspaper gazette for instant release order into your account.
Please confirm if this is (a lie) with the following information: Your Cell
phone number and home address and copy of your ID and the name of your next
of kin.
Please, Your Whats-App number or Skype app name will be needed to privatise
this transaction and update you urgently.
Waiting for your Urgent Response.
Yours Faithfully:
DR. FRANK KELLEY
DIRECTOR (WIRE TRANSFER
FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC
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Anti-fraud resources:
