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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "million 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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- jnsu85@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "James Castle" <jnsu85@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:35:10 +0000
Subject: Important and Confidential Business Proposal for You!
Hello Dear,
My name is James Castle. I work with a reputable bank here in Accra, Ghana
as an Internal Audit and Control Officer.
My position gives me unfettered freedom to peruse a lot of fine and
classified details because I handle and review the bank's most sensitive
files. During my course of duty recently, I discovered US$11.5 million
dollars in our bank escrow account with no account owner. The funds is now
in escrow account pending a declaration of it as lost funds for Government
to take it over by end of the year.
The bank has lost trace of its owner since the fire outbreak of 2007 which
destroyed a lot of the bank's database. Maybe it belongs to one of the
leaders of Africa who steal funds from the covers of their country and
deposit with us so as not to be traced to them and has been killed or
imprisoned by now. I can give you the detail information of the account and
my bank contact so you can contact them and tell them you are the owner of
the money so they should transfer it to your country's account. This
process is water-tight and you have no need to be afraid of anything at
all. I will ensure you are protected and if anything goes wrong, I will
take the fall for you. I assure you this is secured.
My bank will believe you because Your proof is your ability to know the
account details and my bank will transfer without questioning since I will
give you all detailed information you needed to claim the funds. After you
get the money, we will share it to two equal parts.
For details contact me on email: jnsu85@gmail.com
Regards
James Castle
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