|
|
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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Andrew Davis <andrewdavis022@msn.com>
Reply-To: <andrewdavis233@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 12:27:50 +0000
Subject: attn
Attn ;
First and foremost .I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. And I pray that my decision to contact you will be given genuine approval considering that the fact we have not known each other before.Its an urgent need for foreign partner that prompted me contact you for this transaction.
Am Mr.Andrew Davis,Auditor of my branch in Agricultural Development Bank Ghana. I have a legitimate deal that worth lots of funds in my bank but needed an overseas person to claim it with my plans. Can you promise safety of my share of the funds? Before given you the details of the deal as we have not met each other before?
Have a blessed day.
Best regards
Mr.Andrew Davis
|
Anti-fraud resources: