|
|
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:
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "2012 UK NATIONAL LOTTERY" <info@uk.com>
Reply-To: mark_spector1@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2012 02:30:56 +1300
Subject: New Year Endowment.
Re: Nationwide Endowment Publication
This is to publicize the online liberated gaming promo endowment
apprehended in United Kingdom January- 2012 Based on random assortment
implementation of the Internet websites, from Millions of e-mail
Addresses World-Wide your e-mail address plummet with nine (09) other
e-mails to receive the Grant Sum of £550,000.00 GBP.
The lottery organization has approved you to collect the sum of five
hundred and fifty thousand British currencies, grant printed-to-file:
60009878623 REF: NEA/020-09092011. You are to contact our
processing and payout agent by sending your Ref Number with mandatory
particulars as follow:
FULL NAME:.........................................
GENDER:..................... AGE:.................
OCCUPATION:................TEL:.
COUNTRY:....................................
..............................................
British Government Accredited
Licensed & Registered.
....................................................
To enable them process/validate your grant prize and dispatch to your
destination as you may deem fit, this program is Governed and monitored by
British Gaming Commission and you shall contact (ICS) International Courier
Systems for the delivery of your winning.
Here is the details to contact (ICS) COURIER SERVICE FOR YOUR WINNINGS.
E-mail:ics_winne_01@live.com
Sincerely
Mark Spector,
Regional Manager.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
