|
|
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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found 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: "Abubakar Mohammed" <klient@rolis.com.ua>
Reply-To: moh.abubaka63@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 08 Aug 2023 18:44:50 +0000
Subject: Proposal
Dear friend,
Following the military coupe d'etat that toppled the civilian government of=
Republic of Niger, all the senior government functionaries and Ministers w=
ere taken unawares and are on the run because of the people's uprising agai=
nst them. The political heat made so many of them go into hiding in neighbo=
uring countries.
As has always been the practice, most of these functionaries have stash of =
physical money that they now want to move outside of Niger to neighbouring =
countries especially Mali from where it can be moved overseas for safe-keep=
ing and investments. I am currently representing one of such Ministers that=
are currently in hiding and have been mandated to scout for a credible per=
son overseas who can assist in the movement and safe-keeping of US$47M stas=
hed away by the minister. =
There is a 30% offer of the total amount for you if you can successfully as=
sist in moving the funds out of Niger. I will provide you with additional i=
nformation if you are interested in the transaction. I look forward to your=
response.
My regards,
Abubakar Mohammed
|
Anti-fraud resources:
