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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:
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "lagos" (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: "James Morgan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jammorganatm@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:52:27 +0100
Subject: CONFIRM THE STATE OF YOUR INHERITANCE FUND
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
TINUBU SQUARE,VICTORIA ISLAND
LAGOS-NIGERIA.
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR ATM UNIT
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
This is to officially inform you that ATM card number: 4000 1010 2571 7101 worth (US$8.3 Million) has been credited in your favor in bid to compensate you on your contract payment since you are next on our inheritance file for the second part of this fiscal Year 2009.
Your personal identification is ATM- 9467.You are advised that a maximum withdrawal value of US$1,500 is permitted daily.
Kindly send to me your informations for proper verification and claim processing:
Full Name.
Delivery Address.
Country.
Occupation.
Phone Number.
Fax Number.
Age..
sex.
NOTE:-You are also required to send to the verification officer/agent a means of Identification which should be a scan copy of your Driver's License or International Passport for proper verification and authentication.
YOU ARE TO STOP ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATION WITH ANY OTHERPERSON(S)OR OFFICE(S)TO AVOID ANY HITCH IN RECEIVING YOUR PAYMENT. NOTE THAT BECAUSE OF IMPOSTORS, WE HEREBY ISSUE YOU OUR CODE OF CONDUCT, WHICH IS (ATM-811) SO YOU HAVE TO INDICATE THIS CODE WHEN CONTACTING THE CARD CENTER BY USING IT AS YOUR SUBJECT.
Regards
James Morgan
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Anti-fraud resources: