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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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "nigeria national petroleum corporation" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Confidential <vivn36053@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2021 14:52:08 +0100
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Dear Sir/Madam,
Pardon me for infringing on your privacy but this is a matter I cannot help
and need to do something urgently. I have tried all I can to contact a
certain American who completed a pipe line project with Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation worth USD$13.5Million. This fund has been approved
for payment by the Ministry of Finance through Bank of China London Uk, but
unfortunately I found out that the man died this year of Covid 19
complications. I am the only one that knows this truth and want to take
advantage of it rather than leave the fund for this corrupt government.
I am only contacting you so you can stand in for this man and receive the
fund on his behalf and we can share. This is top confidential and I hope
you can handle it. I will give you more details once I hear from you. This
is 100% risk free since all the approvals have been secured just to fill in
your name and the fund will be transferred to you. Get back to me urgently.
Regards,
Vivian Nas.
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Anti-fraud resources: