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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:
- "security company in holland" (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. )
- "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. )
- ",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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: David Mark <dmark00032@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: David Mark <davidmark041948@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:40:57 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: I NEED T SPEAK WITH YOU ASAP
 Hello,
My name is Senator David Mark; I got your contact from a reliable source and I was informed that you are reliable and can be trusted to comfortably handle a transaction worth over US$350,000,000.00 (Three Hundred and Fifty Five Million United State Dollar). This currency is in Dollar, Pounds and Euro.
This money belongs to me and two (2) other senate members; it is our share from the crude oil bunkering and excess sales for the year 2014. We cannot deposit this fund in our account to avoid tracing back to us so we left it with a security company in Holland.
We want to release this fund to you for proper investment in your country or any other part of the world of your choice. As soon as this fund is safely deposited in your account, our lawyer and your lawyer will draw up the annual profit sharing ratio from the investment.
I am presently in Washington, USA on official visit and I hope to close this deal before going back to Nigeria in two days time.
Please get back to me so we can discuss more and schedule a meeting if time will still permit.
Thank you.
Senator David Mark
N.B: Kindly see the picture of the fund I am telling you about. It was taken after the fund was deposited with the security company in Holland last week.
THIS INFORMATION IS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.
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