|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- "fiduciary agent" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "million united state 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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Fraud email example:
From: "Shell Lottery International" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sheremittance2011@msn.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:23:12 +0800
Subject: Shell Winning Notification 2011!!! (Xmas Bonus)
The Shell National Lottery.
file XYL26510460037/11
Dear Winner,
We are pleased to inform you today 15th Dec 2011
of the result of the winners of the SHELL INTERNATIONAL
ONLINE LOTTERY PROMO PROGRAMME in conjunction with
the chevron Texaco company annual lottery/donation promo.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out
$1,000,000.00 (One Million United State Dollars), in cash
credited to file XYL26510460037/11.
Contact Our fiduciary Agent company via email.
Contact Person: Sir Jason Cole
Provide him with the following information to claim your prize
Full Name:
Residence address:
Phone Number:
Country:
Sex:
Age:
Occupation:
Congratulations On behalf of all members of the Lottery foundation.
Yours Truly,
Mrs. Tracy Morgan.
Online Lottery Co-ordinator
|
Anti-fraud resources:
