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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:
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: JIM CHENG <nassiruddin963@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jimcheng369@aol.com
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2022 04:14:28 -0800
Subject: URGENT MEMO
--
Dear Sir/Ma,
I am a senior OPERATING OFFICER CHINA EVERBRIGHT BANK LTD
INTERNATIONAL TOWER FLOOR 28, 100 BARANGAROO AVENUE SYDNEY. I have the
sum of $84.7MUSD that has been in a dormant account and the
beneficiary is dead! I will appreciate it if you can
stand the role of the next of kin and have me get the paperwork to
process these funds in your favour, and have you use it
for investment placement. As soon as you revert back to me I will give
you more details and modality.
Thanks,
JIM CHENG
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Anti-fraud resources: