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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447045717151 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: MR. DAVID NABARRO <d.nabarro@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: mrdavidnabarro0@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:00:54 +0200
Subject: PAYMENT NOTIFICATION FROM UNITED NATIONS.?
UNITED NATIONS (WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMME)
Mailing Address
24 Grosvenor Square
London, W1A 1AE
United Kingdom
ATTENTION: SIR,
I AM MR. DAVID NABARRO FROM UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION. WE REALIZED THROUGH OUR CENTRAL COMPUTER THAT YOU ARE HAVING A TRANSACTION IN UNITED KINGDOM AND AFRICA WORTHS USD$12MILLION.
WE WISH TO INVESTIGATE ON THIS TRANSACTION TO ENSURE THE FUND YOU ARE EXPECTING IS NOT BEEN USED FOR TERRORISM AND ALSO TO ENSURE THAT YOUR PAYMENT SHALL BE RECIEVE BY YOU FROM HERE IN UNITED STATES AS THERE ARE SO MANY SCAMS GOING ON IN AFRICA.
SO GET BACK TO ME AND GIVE ME THE DETAILS OF YOUR INHERITANCE PAYMENT SO WE CAN ORDER FOR THE IMEMDIATE TRANSFER OF THE FUND INTO ONE OF THE BANKS HERE IN USA SO YOU CAN MAKE YOUR CLAIM FROM THERE.
DO GIVE US SOME BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE FUND OR BETTER STILL YOU CAN GIVE ME A CALL.
YOURS IN SERVICE.
MR. DAVID NABARRO
MY CELL TELEPHONE: +44-7045-7171-51
(ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GEHERAL, SENIOR UN SYSTEM COORDINATOR UNITED NATION OFFICE)
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Anti-fraud resources: