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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.
Fraud email example:
From: "ATM Payment Center" <charles@paymentoffice.com>
Reply-To: charlesanthony58@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 00:51:34 +0200
Subject: Your ATM CARD Approval
Subject: PAYMENT THROUGH ATM
SENATE COMMITTEE ON UNCLAIMED/OVER-DUE PAYMENT.
This is to officially inform you that ATM card number: 8006 2774 7847 4856
worth Two Million Five Hundred Thousand($2.5 Million usd) has been
credited in your favor in bid to compensate you on your Long Over-due
payment since you are next on our inheritance file for the first part of
this fiscal Year 2013.The card centre will send you an ATM CARD which you
will use to withdraw your money in any ATM MACHINE in the world.
Your personal identification is ATM- 09-13. Respond immediately with your
details for proper verification and claim processing:
Full Name................
Delivery Address.........
Country..................
Occupation...............
Phone Number.............
Fax Number...............
Age......................
NOTE:
You are also required to send a means of Identification which should be a
scan copy of your Driver's License or International Passport for proper
verification and authentication.
Regards
CHARLES ANTHONY.
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Anti-fraud resources:
