|
|
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:
- "million british pounds" (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)
- "lome togo" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Tobias Macarty <barr.jabello2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mactbilo@yandex.com
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2016 09:17:17 +0000
Subject: Re:
Tobias Macarty (ESQ).
Attorney at law,
Rue 351 Lome TOGO.
Good day
I am the above named attorney. A Senior Advocate of Togo (SAT). It is
very important that you respond to me urgently.
It is under the provision of article 896 of the law of inheritance
that I am contacting you. Based on the stipulation of this article of
the law of inheritance, I seek to submit your name to the bank of my
deceased client to stand as the Next of Kin / beneficiary to receive a
pending inheritance balance of 7.5 Million British Pounds (GBP).
I will explain everything to you in details when I get your reply. I
can assure you that it is not risky for you at all.
Thank you,
Tobias Macarty (ESQ).
Attorney at Law.
Rue 351 Lome TOGO
|
Anti-fraud resources:
