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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:
- 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: "Mr. Robin Levisohn" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <robin.levisohn@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 17:47:49 -0700
Subject: INVESTMENT PROPOSAL
Greetings,
I have been mandated to seek for exclusive business cooperation with individuals/companies in the area of Investment in your country which will result to mutual benefit to both parties. I kindly request for full company / personal profile and remain hopeful for more sincerity of purpose discussion with you.
Note: Funds is 100% legitimate and Fund Owner wants to remain anonymous. Terms and Conditions are moderately applied.
Best regards,
Mr. Robin Levisohn
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Anti-fraud resources: