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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:
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ASAP <raddar@raddar.com.br>
Reply-To: myi.2014@hotmail.com
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 2016 10:32:31 -0200
Subject: ASAP
--
HELLO
I AM MS. MARIAM YAHYA IBRAHIM, WHO WAS CONVICTED OF APOSTASY FOR
MARRYING A
CHRISTIAN DANIEL WANI FROM SUDAN IN 16 SEP 2014.I AND TWO CHILDREN ARE
PRESENTLY NIGERIA AT THE MOMENT AS A REFUGEE.AS A RESULT OF THE DEATH
SENTENCE LEBELED ON ME IN MY COUNTRY SUDAN, I HAVE A SUM OF
US$7,500.000.00
MILLION DEPOSITED IN BANK HERE MADE BY MY HUSBAND AND I NEED YOUR URGENT
HELP TO QUICKLY TRANSFER THIS MONEY FROM THE PRESENT BANK TO ANOTHER
BANK
OF YOUR CHOICE IN YOUR NAME FOR INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY, IT IS THE
ONLY
THING LEFT FOR ME AND MY CHILDREN NOW AND I WANT TO START A NEW LIFE
WITH
IT. PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP TO RECEIVE THIS FUND BECAUSE OF THE CURRENT
SITUATION IN MY COUNTRY (SUDAN) AND I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THIS MONEY TO
THE
REBELS OR GOVERNMENT.
PLEASE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND ABLE TO HANDLE THIS FOR ME IN ALL
HONESTY
WITHOUT ANY BETRAYAL OF TRUST THAT I SHALL REPOSE ON YOU CONTACT ME.
PLEASE
NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS CONFIDENTIAL AND SHOULD BE KEPT IN TOP
SECRET
UNTIL WE HAVE COMPLETED THE TRANSFER TO YOUR APPOINTED ACCOUNT.
I AM WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU.
MS. MARIAM.
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