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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:
- "million united state 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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: KHADEJA <mremerson44@hotmail.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: mr.khadeja277@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 12:36:55 +0300
Subject: Good Day
Good Day
I am Khadeja the daughter of Abu Bakr Yunis the former security head to Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya Me and my only
brother intend to invest in Real Estate and and other lucrative business in your country. We are also looking for a
reliable person that will help us to invest this money because we are wanted and currently hiding in South Africa.
The money was kept for us by our late father who died during the war in Libya. The amount is US$ 29 MILLION ( TWENTY NINE
MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) Kindly update me if you can represent our interest or if there is any other lucrative
Business in the area related to your field, do not delay to keep me posted and please dont tell anyone. We have
concluded with a financial consultant who will wire out this fund to your country without any risk.
Already Libyan authorities have started requesting for the repatriation of funds and gold kept by Muammar Gaddafi from the
South African government.
Full Name:
Full Address:
Telephone Number:
Mobile Number:
Age:
Occupation:
Youre Email:
Country of Origin:
Sex:
I can be reached directly on TEL: +27-611338735, Fax: 086 577 3508
Thanks for anticipate cooperation.
Best regards,
KHADEJA
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Anti-fraud resources: