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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand united states 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr.Ibrahim Ayuba" <info@anirbanhousing.com>
Reply-To: ibrahimayuba2001@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2015 22:17:55 +0600
Subject: Please reply with information
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr.Ibrahim Ayuba. I am the Director of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation. [NNPC] Offshore office in UK/IRELAND. In the course
of my supervision of our offshore payment to our foreign contractor's, I
discovered a whopping amount of $18.5 Million [EIGHTEEN MILLION, FIVE
HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY] being inflated in one of the
contract awarded to a certain firm which is still floating at NNPC's
account. Please I will like you to partner with me to collect this money
by standing as the contractor and the beneficiary of this fund. I will
facilitate the release and the transfer of this fund to your bank account
by raising every vital documents that will guide the award and the
execution of the contract by you. Please if you are interested in carrying
out this risk free deal with me, respond back immediately with your
direct telephone number so that we start. Note that this deal will not
take us more than 10 bank working days to get this money to your account
as long as you follow my Guidelines and advise. I am waiting for your
response.
Yours' Faithfully,
Mr.Ibrahim Ayuba.
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