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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:
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "NNPC CONTRACT REVIEWING COMMITTEE" <nnpccr.cmte@wss-id.org>
Reply-To: nnpccr.cmte@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 10:24:34 -0300 (ART)
Subject: NNPC CONTRACT PAYMENT
REF = CONTRACT #. NNPC/FGN/MIN/TAM-008/365AF
Date = 19/11/2013
Attn, Contractor.
You are officially directed by this mail to acknowledge & forward the the
following informations to enable us release your pending contract funds
worth (USD10.5M)
YOUR FULL NAME:.....................
AGE:................................
SEX:................................
FULL ADDRESS:.......................
EMAIL:..............................
CONTACT TELEPHONE...................
FAX NUMBER:.........................
OCCUPATION:.........................
COUNTRY:............................
A COPY OF AN ID:....................
Our verification based on the file we extracted from the office of the
NNPC sacked director of operations revealed that this amount is due to you
for the Contract your company executed under the former board of Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),
Mr. President (Goodluck Jonathan) has specifically mandated us to Release
your payment and that of (ANTON ENERGY SERVICES INC) directly from the
(NNPC) Contractors suspended account,
Thanks for your co operations
Senator Ibrahim mantu
+234-818-071-8630
Chairman (NNPC) Contract Reviewing committee
Flat 12, upper house chamber building
Garki, Abuja
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Anti-fraud resources: