|
|
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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "with your full names" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mike Anderson <katridoso@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 11:14:41 +0100
Subject: Good day!!
Dear friend,
I know this letter will come to you unexpectedly. am an Engineer with kosmos energy Ghana.
Recently, oil deposits were discovered in Jubilee field which is a little community in Ghana a small African Country, which I and other technicians in the field worked a way to produce oil in excess more than expectation with neat profit of US$23.5M.
I have good business proposal that will benefit both parties if you are willing to stand as my representative to claim this money and advice for nice venture in your city /location to invest, hence get back to me for more details with your full names /direct telephone numbers.
Regards,
Engr. Churchill John
|
Anti-fraud resources:
