|
|
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 sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mr Johnson Yao <johnsonyao25@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnsonyao53@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 02:31:09 -0700
Subject: Gold Dust and Gold Bars for sale
Gold Dust and Gold Bars for sale
Dear Sir/Madam,
We are into Gold business and also an authorized seller of Au dust and
exporter. We work with other handicapped Gold sellers as main source
and help them to export their gold to buyers. We have huge quantity of
alluvial Gold Dust and Gold Bar for sale at a considerable price of
$26,500USD per kilo which is below world market price. We want only
reliable and serious buyers or brokers for a long term business
relationship. If you are interested, do not hesitate to get back to us
as soon as you receive this mail so that we will send you our full
co-operate offer (FCO). Even if you are not prepared to buy our Gold
now but can get a buyer for us,we pay 9% commision per kg to
Agent/Mandate or Intermidiary. We are willing to go into a long term
supply contract with interested buyer with view to develop many mining
communities and we also welcome serious buyer for joint venture in the
mining sector.
I hope to hear from you soonest.
Best regards.
Mr Johnson Yao
|
Anti-fraud resources:
