|
|
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 phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "will come to you as a surprise" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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)
- "urgent assistance" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "wong51.tangyu@w.cn" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr Wong Tang Yu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wong51.tangyu@w.cn>
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 02:04:01 +0200
Subject: URGENT RESPONDS TEST
Dear friend,
I knew that this message will come to you as a surprise; I am the auditing manager in Hang Seng Bank (H.S.B) Hong Kong.
I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that i am about to impose on you for the mutual benefit of our families.
I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of ($6.5 Million United States Dollars) to your account.
This money has been dormant for years in our bank without any body claiming the fund.
I want the bank to release the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer;
The account belongs to one of our foreign customer (Mr.Sadeq ja afar hussain ) who died along with his entire family on November 2003.
I don't want the money to go into our bank treasury account as an unclaimed fund.
So this is the reason why i contacted you so that the bank can release this money to you as the next of kin to the deceased.
please i will like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and Upon receipt of your reply,
I will give you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 45% of the above mentioned sum,
If you agree to handle this business with me.
And 10% will be set aside for any expenses that arises on the process before the fund get into your account.
I look forward expecting to hear from you.
You can reply through this email address:wong51.tangyu@w.cn
Best regards
Mr Wong Tang yu,
|
Anti-fraud resources:
