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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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "atm payment department" (this phrase is often used in the ATM card payment scam)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. X" <info@usa.org>
Reply-To: <boacbank@gboabk75@gmail.commail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 18:47:07 -0800
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD IS READY
YOUR GOOD NEWS DEAR BENEFICIARY,
ON BE HALF OF UBA BANK. I DR MIKE PETER. IS HEREBY INFORMING YOU THAT EVERY ARRANGEMENT REGARDING TRANSFER OF YOUR OVERDUE US$1.7M UNITED STATES DOLLARS HAS BEEN DONE AND YOUR TOTAL FUNDS US$1.7M HAS BEEN CREDITED INTO ACTIVATED ATM MASTER CARD.
WE NEED THIS INFORMATION TO REGISTER YOUR ATM CARD PACKAGE TO COURIER SHIPPING COMPANY TODAY AND SEND YOU THE DETAILS YOU NEED TO RECEIVE YOUR PACKAGE.
HOME ADDRESS RE-CONFIRMATION.
1.YOUR FULL NAME___________________
2.YOUR HOME ADDRESS______________________
3.YOUR CURRENT HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER_______________
4.YOUR CURRENT OFFICE TELEPHONE_______________
5.A COPY OF YOUR PICTURE OR DRIVER LICENSE______________
THANK YOU AND REMAIN BLESS
YOURS FAITHFUL
DR.MIKE PETER
CLIENT SERVICE DIRECTOR
UBA BANK,INTERNATIONAL ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT
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Anti-fraud resources:
