|
|
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 fake company names, fake addresses, non-existent institutions/documents or other details have appeared in scams before:
- "uk national lottery" (can only win this lottery if you bought a ticket)
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "transferred into your bank account" (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)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Fraud email example:
From: Bank Of Africa BF <boa.bf.ld@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: boa.bf.lotto.dept@one.co.il
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:54:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: =?utf-8?B?WU9VUiBFTUFJTCBXT04g4oKsIDg1MCwwMDAgRVVST1M=?=
YOUR EMAIL WON € 850,000 EUROS
!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! FROM BANK OF AFRICA.BOA.BF
No 770 Av. de la résistance du 17 Mai,
01 BP 1319 Ouagadougou 01
Burkina Faso.
Dear Email User
You did not receive this email as an error,
I want to assure that every thing about this email is real.
We received A Cheque issued with your Email Address and instruction from UK NATIONAL LOTTERY Burkina Faso branch to transfer the sum of (€ 850,000.00) euros to you.
Which they said your Email Address won on their Email Raffle Draw.
Note; you are advised to fill the form below and contact
BOA.BF lottery Department.
Email boa.bf.lotto.dept@one.co.il
For immediate transfer of your winning funds.
                                 PERSONAL DETAILS
(1)YOUR FULL NAME: --------------------------
(2)CONTACT ADDRESS: -------------------------
(3)SEX: ----------------------------------------
(4)AGE: -----------------------------------------
(5) MARITAL STATUS : --------------------------
(6)OCCUPATION: -------------------------------
(7)NATIONALITY : ------------------------------
(8)PHONE NUMBER------------------------------
                               ACCOUNT DETAILS
(1) BANK NAME:-----------------------------
(2) ACCOUNT HOLDERS NAME:---------------
(3) BANK ADDRESS:--------------------------
(4) ACCOUNT NUMBER:-----------------------
(5) SCAN COPY OF INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR NATIONAL ID CARD.
 NB; for your security reasons you are advised to keep this matter confidential till your winning fund is transferred into your bank account.
Announcer
Mrs Compaore Veronique
On-line coordinator bank of Africa Burkina Faso .
|
Anti-fraud resources:
