|
|
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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states 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)
- ",000,000" (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 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: "SALIM MOHAMMED" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <salimmohammedsalim64@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 18:00:24 +0200
Subject: Dear Friend
Dear Friend,
I will need your co-operation to transfer funds worth $25,000,000 (Twenty Five Million United States Dollars. The funds were generated from an over-invoiced contract executed by an American and Austrialian firm. The NNPC has been disolved and the funds are about to be paid out. The original contractors had been paid leaving the excess of $25 Million.
To get involved in this deal i require a Phone confidential phone call from you before i can open up my true identity and give you modalities on how we can both move this money without any problem.( DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL)
Call me on +234 805 768 4481 On receipt of your call i will give you my personal and official email addresses for confidential communication.
Salim Mohammed
( DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL. YOU CAN CALL OR SEND AN SMS)
|
Anti-fraud resources:
