|
|
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:
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- paymentoffice@post.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mrs. Joy Okafor" <benoliseh@gmail.com>
Reply-To: paymentoffice@post.com
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2012 20:21:41 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION: BANK DRAFT PAYMENT.............
ATTENTION:
In regards to the recent meeting between the United Nations and the
Present United States Government to restore the dignity and Economy of
the Nations. Base on the Agreement with the World Bank Assistance to
help and make the world a better place for all with the sole aim of
abolishing poverty.
This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of
the world, it was resolved after the Board meetings today by foreign
Remittance office to release all inheritance/Contract Fund on a
special method of payment International Bank Draft.
Your name and email was in the list submitted by our Monitoring Team
observers and this is why we are contacting you, this have been agreed
upon and have been signed. You are advised to contact Mr. Nelson Cole,
as he is our representative in United Kingdom, contact him immediately
for your Cheque/ International Bank Draft of (USD3.5M) this fund are
in a Bank Draft for security purpose.
You are advice to contact this office with the bellow information:
Contact Name: Mr.Farouk Mohammed
Email: paymentoffice@post.com
Yours Sincerely
Mrs. Joy Okafor
|
Anti-fraud resources:
