|
|
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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "transfer into your 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)
- "million us 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: David Paul <mrdavidpaulx1@yahoo.com>
Date: 20 Nov 2010 02:48:24 -0000
Subject: I NEED YOUR URGENT REPLY
Dear sir/Madam
Re: Urgent security notification
Following the new directives of Foreign Payments, we write to notify you that your duly approved payment $22 Million US Dollars received 100% Exchange Approval Order and was programmed for wire transfer into your account through our National Bank, unfortunately, it was interrupted this afternoon as we received a conflicting Court Declaration requesting this authority to execute the wire transfer into the Regent Bank account of Ms Lorinda McMillan, Arkansas USA. The Declaration stated that the said Ms Lorinda Mcmillan is your company Trust, that your Company went bankruptcy and could not function any longer.
We therefore request you to identify this woman and reconfirm your approved receiving Bank account information and your personal data (phone/fax number) to ensure adequate protection and accurate input reference.
This information is mandatory and if not responded within the nearest possible time, your duly approved payment will be temporarily suspended from further payment process due to this contradictions.
The administration asks you to accept our apologies for the caused inconveniences and expresses gratitude for your good understanding.
More so, this is a lawful condition which must be followed accordingly. You are required to contact us back with all requested information for prompt attention.
Thanks for your understanding.
Yours Faithfully
Mr. David Paul
|
Anti-fraud resources:
