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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "good day friend" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "hundred thousand u.s 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)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: "Anita Krasemann" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <a2nettt@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:34:31 -0500
Subject: Re: I need your urgent response please
Good day Friend,
I am Mrs. Anita Krasemann. I am married to an African who worked with a construction company in Asia for twenty Years before he died in the tsunami disasters.We were married but without a child. I'm very old now and in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for Cancer of the lungs.
When my late husband was alive, he deposited the sum of $14.5M. (Fourteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand U.S Dollars) with a finance house in Benin Republic. I want to entrust this fund to you so that you can use 70% of this money for charity works in my name Anita Krasemann Foundation and use the remaining 30% for yourself.
As soon as I receive your reply I will give you the details and will also give you the contact of my family lawyer so that he can guide you to receive the fund. I have already notified the finance house about this my wish to transfer this fund t you.
You should include the following information when replying:
1) Your full name and contact address.
2) Your direct telephone number.
3) Your age and occupation.
God bless you.
Anita Krasemann
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Anti-fraud resources: