|
|
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:
- "remain blessed" (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ms. Gina Myers" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <myersgina71@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2019 22:51:18 +0200
Subject: Good Day!
Dearest Friend,
My name is Gina Myers and contacting you with a donation of $13.5M; I was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer and recently my Oncologist informed me that I had limited days to live due to fast spreading malignant tumor in my ovaries.
My final wish in life is for you to use the donation to fund Cancer Research foundation to help fight cancer among poor women and children because money means nothing to money means nothing to a dying soul but life is for the living.
Please treat this as very urgent and legitimate because my days here on earth is limited and I await your confirmation of receipt of this offer proceed.
Remain Blessed.
Respectfully,
Gina Myers.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
