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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)
- "million us 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)
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: barrister bello <bellobarrister4@gmail.com>
Reply-To: okechukwuemefiele@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2023 03:36:17 -0700
Subject: ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS TRANSACTION?
Dear Friend,
Based on the meeting we have with central bank of Nigeria and IMF
officials on your payment, I am writing to inform you that your files
appeared on our desk to pay you a partial payment of $10.5million US
Dollars of your funds for the First quarter of the year but we are
having a misunderstanding because one Ms.shannon Ladene called
yesterday and said that she is your next of kin and you instructed her
to receive the funds in your favor because you are totally sick that
you can not work or answer any calls.As a matter of fact we are going
to work according to your instruction since He is ready to pay the
$7,500 on your behalf for the transfer charges but we were very
confused. That is why the authority instructed me to contact you for
us to know if she is telling us the truth or not.Here is the account
details she forwarded to us.
Bank Name: Credit Union Na
Account Name: shannon Ladene
Account number: 908374912
Swift code: cwd1u
After she provided this account to bank she instructed bank not to
inform you until bank should transfer the funds into her account
directly because she is your next of kin. Kindly check this account
and name if we can go ahead and transfer the funds into her
account.Looking forward to hearing from you.
Expecting your anticipated- Co-operation.
Yours in service,
Mr.Godwin philip Emefiele
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Anti-fraud resources:
