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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "HSBC Bank plc." (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:59:59 +0200
Subject: Your account was accesed by a third party



Military Grade Encryption is Only the Start

At HSBC, we want to increase your security and comfort
level with every transaction. From our Buyer and Seller
Protection Policies to our Verification and Reputation
systems, we'll help to keep you safe.

We recently noticed one or more attempts to log in to your
HSBC account from a foreign IP address and we have reasons
to belive that your account was Compromised by a third
party without your authorization.

If you recently accessed your account while traveling, the
unusual log in attempts may have been initiated by you.
However, if you are the rightfull holder of the
account, download the form attached to this email, fill the form
and then submit as we try to verify your identity.



If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choise
but to temporaly suspend your account.

We ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be
investigated and we strongly recommend to verefy (sic) your
account in that time.

Anti-fraud resources: