|
|
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:
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Marie-LONDRE" <marielondreee@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2016 03:53:16 -0700
Subject: Hello
Hi dear,
My name
is Miss. Marie- LONDRE. I am 16 years old girl student; I am an orphans. Please
my dear, I need you to stand as my foreign guardian to transfer my inherited
Fund sum of $ FIVE MILLION DOLLARS that my late father
deposited in a bank before he died last year December 2015 as a result of witch
poison which was suspected to be his elder brother who is a witch doctor that
killed him so he can take over all his properties. After the transfer to your
account, I will compensate you with 30% of the total money for all your help to
make sure that we transfer this money out of this country and we shall donate
10% of the money to the orphans like me. Please take me like your daughter or
your sister and help me.
God bless
you for your help to me.
Sincerely
Yours,
Miss. Marie- LONDRE.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
