joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
 Free trial for 30 days
   jwSpamSpy
Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Customer Care" (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 17 May 2018 13:01:18 -0400
Subject: Transaction On Your Account

To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add us to your address book

Security Preferences Update

View Accounts | Privacy Promise | Online Security Guarantee

 

Dear Customer

Due to the changes made on our website and our servers, we have decided to make an Update page for your account (s) for security reasons, and to prevent you and your account (s) from fraudulent activities.

Account Update Process

As part of our ongoing commitment to provide the "Best Possible" service and protection to all our customers, we are requiring each Customer to Update their account (s) using the new SSL servers. Please Update your online banking account (s) by clicking on Sign In and then do as required.

.

USAA

  

Please do not reply to this e-mail. To send a secure message to USAA, please contact usPrivacy Promise

USAA, 9800 Fredericksburg Road San Antonio, TX 78288-9876

 

Anti-fraud resources: