|
|
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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "huge amount of money" (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 next of kin scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Stanley Howard <ahmedtayyib04@gmail.com>
Reply-To: stanleyhoward75@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2018 22:01:23 +0000
Subject: Fund Claim
Hi,
Greetings to you, I am Mr.Stanley Howard a lawyer. I make this offer to you
in connection with the death of My client who has left some huge amount of
Money (US$9.5 Million) with one of the Banks here in Togo for some years.
After unsuccessful attempts in search of their relatives I decided to
contact you.
All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal
through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any Breach of law,
waiting for your response for more details.
Regards
Stanley Howard
|
Anti-fraud resources:
