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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:
- "liberia" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: SHANTAN KAMARA <shantan.kamara5@btinternet.com>
Reply-To: sh.kama22@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:33:39 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: From Shantan Kamara
>From Shantan Kamara
Dear Sir,
l am intducing myself,l am Shantan
Kamara, the only Daughter of late Chief Pascal =amara , I wish to
request for your assistance in a financial transaction and I want to
invest in Manufacturing and real estate management in your country..
I am from Liberia my late father was an
international businessman and a cocoa marchant my father was killed by
rebels on September 19 2009 and as his only child and daughter they are
also seeking to kill me too.
Before the death of my Father he
deposited 10.5 million USD dollars in a sus=ense account in a bank in
Abidjan and told me to seek for a foreign partne= that will provide
account overseas where the funds will be transferred to you for
Investment.
Please I am asking you to assist me so
that this funds can be transferred to your account for Investment..Every
documents about the funds is legal.
God bless you.
Shantan Kamara.
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Anti-fraud resources: