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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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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.
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)
- "huge sum of money" (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: Micheal Kwame <micheal_kwame200011@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: Micheal Kwame <micheal_kwame2000001@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:16:37 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Gaddafi deposit
Dear Friend,
It is my great Concern to contact you for this business transaction which i strongly believe that it will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction. I am Mr Micheal kwame the director of auditing and accounting section of ECO BANK in West Africa. Late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi deposited a huge sum of money (US$14.5million) with our bank before his death on Thursday(20-10-11). he made this deposit with his Late son's name (Mutassim Gaddafi)who died with him in the gun battle as his next of kin.
The government are closing all Late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi foreign account but government do not know about this deposit of his fund in our Bank and nobody will come as the next of kin because his son who could have come for his deposited fund died with him in the gun battle in Libya on Thursday(20-10-11). i sincerely contacted you to stand as a foreign beneficiary to receive this deposited fund in your account because i do not want this fund to Enter in our Eco Bank account as Bank treasury, i also want to assure you that this does not have any risk attached to it as all internal documentation will be handle by me, if interested i need your full information and i hope you clearly understand me.
1: Full Name
2: Phone and Fax
3: House Address
4: Marital Status
5: Country of Origin
6: Passport Number.
Therefore i request you to confirm your interest by a return message and I will furnish you with details. Your interest will be negotiable before we commence the operation. I look forward to hearing from you.
My Regards,
Mr Micheal Kwame
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