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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:
- "loan amount" (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- "your loan " (Beware of fake loan offers. Real lenders would not normally use free webmail addresses such as Yahoo, nor would they lend to individuals or small businesses in a different country from where they are based. Beware of mobile phones or redirector numbers!)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447024032739 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "elle loan firm" <info@loan.com>
Reply-To: ramosjones@zbavitu.net
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:32:31 -0300
Subject: Re
Welcome to Elle Finance - the home of the affordable loan and speedy
approvals.
We do everything a normal finance company does; only we do it differently to
benefit you. We offer loan at 3% interest rate, both personal and business
loans at 3%.
You are required to send the following information now: information below:
• First name
• Last name
• Date of birth
• Telephone number
• E-mail address
• Permanent address
• Postcode
• Purpose
• Loan amount
• Requested loan term
• Country
• Occupation
• monthly income
• Age
People take out personal loans for many different reasons. These purposes
need to be mentioned in the application form. Several choices are listed in
the form. Some of these options include:
• Debt consolidation
• Home improvement
• Car loan
• Holiday
• Deposit for house
• Boat loan
• Motorbike loan
• Christmas cash
• Business purposes
• Medical purposes
• Wedding
• Funeral
• Mortgage
• Remortgage
• Debt management
Once the information is received your loan will be approve.
Regards,
Mr. Andrea White
+447024032739
Account Officer
Elle Finance Investments
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Anti-fraud resources:
