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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "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)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "abduljamis12@gmx.es" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Abdul Jamis" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 26 Dec 2011 21:37:55 +0100
Subject: Mutual Business Benefit.
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Dear Sir,
My name is Jamis and i am from Libya. I am in Spain at the moment as a political refugee because of the recent problems of my country but i have a huge sum of money deposited in a security company here in Europe and I need your urgent help to transfer this money from the present location to another bank of your choice in your name to avoid any questioning concerning the source, it is the only thing left for me now and I want to start a new life with it. This transaction requires immediate attention because of the current political situation in my country (Libya) and i do not want to lose this money to the European government or the UN.
It is a huge sum of money and I am ready to offer you 30% of the money to stand as the beneficiary and transfer to a new bank account of your choice. I believe you can help me, but on the contrary please forgive my indulgence and delete this e-mail content without sharing with anyone.
This money rightfully belongs to me, because it is my part of an agreement for oil deal that was used to compensate for my late father who died fighting for Muammar Gaddafi and it may be confiscated by the European government. This is the only thing I have to start a new life and change my current situation. If you are interested and able to handle this for me in all honesty without any betrayal of trust that I shall repose on you then contact me on my private email address below.
E-mail: abduljamis12@gmx.es
Please note that this transaction is confidential and should be kept in top secret until we have completed the transfer to your appointed account.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Thanks,
Abdul Jamis
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