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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- "million us 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: "Mr.Christopher A. Wray" <pitsanu.h@rice.mail.go.th>
Reply-To: "Mr.Christopher A. Wray" <scl.sartex@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:11:10 +0700 (ICT)
Subject: Dear Beneficiary
Dear Beneficiary
This is to inform you that the United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres and the FBI has instructed BANK OF AMERICA to remit the sum of US$8.5Million US dollars into your nominated bank account, the reason for this is because your name was among the scam victims that lost a lot of money to African and European Fraudsters, you are hereby advised to get back to our office without delay and stop all communication between you and anybody on internet and follow our instruction to enable our office execute the payment of your Fund US$8.5Million US Dollars without any delay.
Kindly Get back to us with your full information;
Your Full Names:_____________
Contact Address:_____________
Mobile Phone:_____________
Home Phone:_____________
Fax:_____________
Occupation:_____________
Marital Status:_____________
Age:_____________
A Copy of your ID:_____________
We need your Urgently respond to this message so that I can advise you on how best to confirm your fund within the next 48 hours.
Sincerely yours,
Mr.Christopher A. Wray,
The New FBI Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI.
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Anti-fraud resources: