|
|
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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "international remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- unionbankplc2013@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "UNION BANK WIRE TRANSFER DEPARTMENT" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unionbankplc2013@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 00:55:15 -0800
Subject: PAYMENT APPROVAL/ RELEASE ORDER OF YOUR FUND
DEAR SIR,
RE: PAYMENT APPROVAL/ RELEASE ORDER
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA ORDER THE UNION BANK OF NIGERIA PLC TO PAY ALL OUTSTANDING INHERITANCE/CONTRACT/LOTTERY FUNDS TO ALL FOREIGN BENEFICIARIES AND YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WAS FORWARDED TO US BY THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEW CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA GOVERNOR. YOU ARE TO FURNISH US YOUR BELOW INFORMATION IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS E-MAIL TO ENABLES US TO TRANSFER YOUR FUNDS TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY.
URGENT INFORMATION NEEDED FROM YOU;
1. YOUR FULL NAME
2. YOUR ADDRESS
3. YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER
4. YOUR BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS THAT YOU WANT YOUR FUNDS TO BE TRANSFER INTO BY WIRE TRANSFER
5. THE AMOUNT YOU ARE EXPECTING FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA.
PLEASE TREAT AS URGENT.
YOURS SINCERELY,
MR. EMEKA CHIGOZE
DIRECTOR WIRE TRANSFER/INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
E-MAIL: unionbankplc2013@gmail.com
|
Anti-fraud resources:
