|
|
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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "with your full names" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "chambers" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- barbruce.chamber@hotmail.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Daniel Rock" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <barbrucechamber@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:36:50 +0100
Subject: From Equity and Justice Chamber...
The Bank has issued me a notice to provide my late client's next of kin/relation or they will have the deposit funds confiscated if i fail to provide any.It is standard practice that after the expiration of a specified period,The said fund will be automatically confiscated and transfer to the Bank treasury as unclaimed bill if there is nobody to file in claim as the next of kin/relation to the deceased and the account will be closed. Please contact me as soon as possible.On receipt of your positive response,we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for the transfer.
kindly get back to me with your full names, your physical address and your telephone number so that we can discuss proper regarding this transaction.
Thank you for your understanding
Barrister Ben Bruce.
Esq. LLB, BL
Equity and Justice Chambers
Lome, Togo.
website : www.equity-chambers.net
Reply via:barbruce.chamber@hotmail.co.uk
|
Anti-fraud resources: