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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:
- "million 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)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: ZENITH BANK LIMITED <prez06969@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: onlinetransferzenith@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 14:47:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: RE: DID YOU INSTRUCT MR. PETER WILLIAMS TO CLAIM YOUR FUND?
ZENITH BANK (UK) LIMITED
39 CORNHILL LONDON EC3V 3ND
UNITED KINGDOM.
TEL:+234-703 019 3170 (NIG)
TEL:+44-703 187 5117 (UK)
Attn Beneficiary,
I am Mr. David Smith Executive Director, Bills And Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department in ZENITH BANK PLC. I am a member of the new appointed commitee for the MINISTRY FOR FINANCE. I was directed to contact you by the Minister to urgently confirm from you if actually you know one Mr. Peter Williams who claim to be your business associate/partner in Nigeria.
This man Mr. Peter Williams told the ministry that you are dead and he want to claim your Fund and also he will like to change all the Information's that you gave to us as our bonafide beneficiary. This development is coming now that the Ministry want to offset all outstanding payments to all our legal foreign beneficiaries' around the world in which your payment file was affected.
As you may know, the total amount in your favor is a total sum of $25 Million (Twenty Five Million United States Dollars Only). We need to confirm from you if it's really true that you are dead, and If we did not hear from you it automatically means that you are actually dead and the information passed to us by Mr.Peter Williams is correct.
You are to contact me through my email address as soon as you receive this message so as to know the true position of things with you, so that we would not make any mistake in remitting your out-standing payment to a wrong person/account.
Your swift response will help this ministry a lot. Do email me with all these information below:
(1) Your Full Name:
(2) Your Full Address:
(3) Phone And Fax Number:
(4) Your date of Birth:
(5) Your Occupation:
(6) Your Country:
We need all these information for an easy communication and to this effect for the processing of your Fund.
YOU ARE ADVICE TO CONTACT ME THROUGH THIS EMAIL: (zenith.online@av.tc)
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
(DR) MR. DAVID SMITH
ZENITH BANK (UK) LIMITED
TEL:+234-703 019 3170 (NIG)
TEL:+44-703 187 5117 (UK)
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