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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:
- "it will be a bank to bank transfer" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. Donald Benson" <atom@atommagadia.com>
Reply-To: donaldbenson98@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 23:04:36 +0000
Subject: ATTN/PLS:
ATTN/PLS:
My name is Donald Benson. I am the regional manager of a Bank in Takoradi branch in the western region of Ghana. I got your personal information through my search on website. I write you this proposal in good faith. I am 44 years old married with two lovely kids. I am a man of peace. I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit you and i. as the regional manager; it is my duty to send in a financial report to my head office in the capital city Accraat the end of each business year. On the course of the last year 2009business report. I discovered that my branch in which i am the managermade Twelve Million ,Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars(US$12,500,000.00) which my head office are not aware of and will neverbe aware of. I have placed this funds on what we call escrow callaccount with no beneficiary. As an officer of this bank i cannot bedirectly connected to this money. So my aim of contacting you is toassist me receive this money in your bank accountand get 25% of the total funds as commission. There are practically norisks involved. It will be a bank to bank transfer; all i need from youis to stand claim his money as the original depositor of this fund whomade the deposit with my branch so that my head office can order thetransfer to your designated bank account. If you accept to work with mei will appreciate it very much. Reply me if you think we can worktogether so that we can go over the details. Thanks in advance and myregards to you and your family. I am waiting for your reply DonaldBenson
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