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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:
- ",500,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a orphan scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Mairan Abukk <mairanabuk18@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Mairan Abukk <mairanAbukk18@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2017 19:40:30 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From Mairan
Hello!
My name is Mairan Abuk. I'm the only child/daughter of
late engineer Martin Abuk. My late father was an Ivorian businessman and
entrepreneur philanthropist involved in the oil & gas industries.
He also had extensive investments in real estate and the agricultural
sectors. It is disheartening to say that my father was poisoned to death
by his business associates during one of their business meeting. My
mother died when I was barely 4 years old and since then my father took
me so special and he loved me so dearly.
Before the death of my
father in a private hospital here in Abidjan, he secretly called me on
his bed side and told me that he has the sum of (USD$ 7,500,000.00)
seven million, five hundred thousand united states dollar in a fixed
deposit account with a bank here in Abidjan and he used my name as his
heir. He also explained to me that it was because of his enormous wealth
that he was poisoned by his business associates out of envy and
wickedness. He advised me to search for a foreign partner in a country
of my choice where I will transfer this money and use it for investments
such as real estate / hotels or food processing plant.
Please I am honorably seeking your assistance in the following ways:
(1) To provide a bank account into which this money would be transferred to.
(2) To serve as the investment manager of this money
(3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country and continue my education
(4) To secure a resident permit for me in your country.
Moreover,
I'm willing to offer you 25% of the total sum as compensation for your
effort/ input after the successful transfer of this fund into your bank
account. Please indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe
that this transaction would be concluded within few days you signify
your interest to assist me.
With Kind Regards
Mairan Abuk
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