|
|
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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: john akans <john-----akans5@att.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:17:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: CONTACT UPSCOURIER SERVICE FOR THE DELIVERY OF YOUR ATM CARD
INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE
FOREIGN OPERATIONS DEPT,
DIAMOND BANK,
BENIN REPUBLIC.
NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT BY ATM CARD.
Attn: Beneficiary,
We hereby officially notifying you about your Compensation Fund initiated/constituted by UNCC(UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMISSION) to pay off your Inheritance/Compensation fund. We the board of directors Diamond bank has decided to effect your compensation fund through an ATM CARD due to too many fraudlent activities going on within the African Region. Your ATM CARD payment has been funded with 1.5 million USD which is valid to be used anywhere in the world where ATM (AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE) is accessible. The uploading of your compensation fund into any ATM CARD has been done perfectly and we have also arranged with UPS courier company to carry out the delivery process as soon as we hear from you. You are to contact UPS courier company immediately and furnish them with your delivery address so they can commence on the delivery without any delay.
Contact person:
Joel Mathew
UPS Benin
BP 485, 3 Rue du Gouverneur Fourn
Cotonou/Benin
Email:upscourier_bj@w.cn
>From the desk of Dr.Mcwillson Carlos,
Secretary foreign operation dept.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
