|
|
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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Robert Hill " <gc3_d@cas.org.hk>
Reply-To: rhill0200@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2016 06:25:03 -0600
Subject: IMPORTANT!!
Sir/Ma, Payment Notification of Eight hundred and Fifty thousand dollars on=
ly($850,000.00) I write to remind you that your file have been approved by =
the International Monetary fund (IMF) board of directors for immediate rele=
ase of Eight hundred and Fifty thousand dollars only($850,000.00) inheritan=
ce/scammed victim fund via DIRECT PAYMENT SYSTEM and without any further de=
lay.You are advised to reconfirm the following information: FULL NAME FULL =
ADDRESS PHONE/MOBILE NUMBER As soon as the above information is received,I =
will summit your file to the paying bank for immediate processing and relea=
se of your fund within 72 hours .You are advised to stop all communication =
with other people for we are working to serve you better.Reply back as urge=
nt as possible for more information in details. I look forward to hearing f=
rom you. Yours Faithfully, Robert Hill For : International Monetary fund(IM=
F)
|
Anti-fraud resources:
