|
|
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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Satish Bapat <satish_bapat@yahoo.co.in>
Reply-To: Satish Bapat <satish_bapat@live.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2013 05:23:35 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: URGENT...
I hate to bother you but i
need your urgent assistant of a loan, I'm so devastated right now, I
have make a short vacation to Jordan Amman and I am in a fix. I'm
stranded here.
My flight leaves in few hours from now but i am having
problems sorting the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let me
leave until i settle the bills which is $1250. Please can I get a loan
of $1250 or whatever amount if not all. You'll have it as soon as I get
back. It's really urgent, please get back to me asap if you can. I will
advise on how you can get it to me.
Regards.
Satish Bapat.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
