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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: DANIELLA KAFFAUR <daniella_k02@rocketmail.com>
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:58:10 +0300
Subject: BE MY FOREIGN PARTNER
Attn.
Sir,
Sorry to really bring this up to you considering the fact that we have no previous dealings in the past, i decided to contact you due to the urgency required in this issue.
before i begin i will like to start by introducing myself, my name is Daniella Kaffaur am 24yrs old, and the daughter of late Prof. M. Kaffaur who happen to be the deputy minister of mines and energy at the republic of Sierra Leone before he was poison to death by his political associates left me and my aged sicked mother alone in the wicked and lonely world.
Before the death of my late father he deposited some valuable items with a security company in Ghana for safe keeping, which those Items valued $15.5Million usd alongside with 50kgs of GOLD where i happen to be the next of kin which my late father gave me all the vital information/relevant documents to effect this claim as the legal beneficiary upon my arrival to Ghana.
But it unfortunate that upon my arrival to the security company to claim my inheritance i was denied claims due to the strict instruction my late father left with the security company that without a foreign partner to help me claim and invest my inheritance abroad they should released my inheritance to me thus i decided to contact you for your kind assistance to accept my offer to present you to the security company as my foreign partner.
i will furnish you with further details as soon as you indicate your wiliness and readiness to assist me, so that i can send you all relevant document/full details on how to help achieve this dream to enable me have a better future and give my aged sick mother the best medical attention.
Kindly add me to your yahoo messenger so that we can chat cam 2 cam to enable us know our self more better.
I will appreciate if you treat this message with almost confidentiality and important due to security and safety measures.
Yours sincerely
Daniella Kaffaur
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