|
|
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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- ",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)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Melanie Blum <coordpd@vivacidadao.ma.gov.br>
Reply-To: Melanie Blum <melanieblum@outlook.com>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2018 03:29:44 -0300 (BRT)
Subject: Hope
Dear Friend,
My name is Melanie Blum; I was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I was married to Simon Blum who passed away recently.
When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of $13,000,000 as a Fixed Income deposit with a private Offshore Bank. The Funds was legitimately derived from his vast estates and investment in capital market both in the UK and USA.
Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from hence my contacting you to utilize the funds by creating a charity foundation called MELANIE BLUM FOUNDATION to fight cancer amongst women and children.
Kindly treat this message as very urgent as only God knows what my future holds as I await your response.
Melanie Blum.
|
Anti-fraud resources: