|
|
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)
- "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)
- "foreign exchange" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Steve Joseph <steve_joseph@one.co.il>
Reply-To: youssef2020@yahoo.cn
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:46:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: GOOD DAY
Dear Friend
My name is Mr Steve joseph, I'm the head of foreign exchange and account reconciliation department at Bank of Africa Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.I have a business proposal which involves 7.5, (SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY) to negociate with you for transfer to an overseas account.And after a successful transfer, we shall share it in ratio 40% for you and 60% for me.If you are interested, please quickly peply me back so that I Will give you more information on how to handle this project, to enable us commence all arrangements.Thanks
Mr Steve joseph
|
Anti-fraud resources:
