|
|
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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million dollars" (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)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: ruth kojo <ruthkojo@cantv.net>
Reply-To: ruthkojo01@yahoo.ca
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2012 12:24:25 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Greetings and how are you today.
 Greetings and how are you today.
First I would like to thank you for taking time to read this mail. I am Miss Ruth Kojo the only child of Mr. & Mrs. Eric Kojo. I am 18 years old and incapable of handling anything on my own for now. My mother died some years back before my daddy’s death. I am an orphan now looking for help from God we are in Rep. of Ghana and I am staying with my uncles now after my father’s death.
Please I would like to request that you keep this very confidential because of my safety, my uncles are currently treating me badly and would do anything to harm me if they get to know about this deposited fund but unfortunately they do not know about this deposit as it was made in my name. I would like to plead with you not to be biased towards helping me out. Life has not been the same ever since my father's death and the family has become very unfair and now treat me like a slave which my late father and mother never did. I would also like to let you know that am hoping this fund would not take much time before it is transferred as I can’t wait to go back to school.
My father deposited the sum of USD9.5 million dollars and 40kg of Gold Bar in a bank before his death, so I am looking for someone that will be a God fearing person that will help me in this transfer. I hereby seek your assistance in the following ways:
To serve as my foreign investor/guardian for transfer to your account.
To make arrangement for me to come over to your country immediately after the fund is transferred into your account to further my education.
To help me invest the money in a profitable venture in your country. We shall discuss your percentage later if you are interested.
Â
Please do forward the following information’s so that as I would submit it to the bank and then the bank would contact you and give you details of how to transfer the fund.
Your full name, country, age, occupation and you’re contacting phone numbers.Miss Ruth Kojo
|
Anti-fraud resources:
