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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:
- "your urgent reply" (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: "Ghana Commercial Bank Plc" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gcbb@accountant.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 02:04:05 -0700
Subject: Ghana Commercial Bank Plc
Greetings.
I want you to confirm that your funds can be transferred to the account below.
Based on the message that I got from one Mr. Stanis Bzymek saying
that you died from Coronavirus. Therefore requesting as your business
partner to receive your fund on your behalf to enable him to complete
your company's project.
I therefore write for confirmation since I have your previous contact.
Below are the account details submitted to us.
Bank Name: PKO Bank Polski
Account No: 9246208296
Account name: Stanis Bzymek
Routing no: 011400071
Address: 15 Pulawska Street 00-975 Warsaw, Poland
Your urgent reply will be appreciated
Yours Sincerely
Thanks.
Mr. Erick Ado
For: Ghana Commercial Bank Plc
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Anti-fraud resources:
