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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "AFRICA DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fishermanjames@rpage.org>
Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 17:27:39 -0700
Subject: YOUR INTERCEPTED FUNDS
FOR YOUR ATTENTION ONLY
I KNOW THAT THIS EMAIL WILL COME TO YOU AS A GREAT SHOCK BUT LET ME USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE MYSELF FIRST, I AM MR. JAMES FISHERMAN THE AFRICA DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR WITH THE IMF, THERE WAS AN APPLICATION THAT WAS PUT ON FOR PAYMENT ON YOUR BEHALF WISH I BELIEVE THAT IT WAS WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT AND I WAS LEFT WITH NO OPTION THAN TO CONDUCT A PERSONAL INVESTIGATION AND I DISCOVERED THAT YOU REALLY DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT, THAT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WAS THAT SOME SACKED OFFICIAL FROM SOUTH AFRICA USED YOUR NAME TO SECURE A GHOST PROJECT AND THE FUNDS OF $11.5M WERE APPROVED TO THE PROJECT AND THERE WERE CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL IN THEIR MINISTRIES SO BECAUSE OF THE DEVELOPMENT IT MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOUR TRANSACTION.
WHEN THE NEW PAYMASTER FORWARDED A PAYMENT GAZETTE TO ENABLE US REVIEW AND RECOMMEND FOR THE RELEASE, THE PARTIES STARTED PUTTING UP SEVERAL APPLICATIONS ON THESE FUNDS WITH DIFFERENT BENEFICIARIES WHO REALLY CREATE A DOUBT IN OUR MINDS AND I PERSONALLY CARRY OUT SEARCH TO BE ABLE TO LOCATE YOU.
IF WE HAVE A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING THEN WE CAN HAVE THIS TRANSACTION ACCOMPLISHED AS ALREADY A SETTLING BANK HAS BEEN APPROVED ON THIS AND I WILL PROVIDE ALL NECESSARY INFORMATION TO MAKE THIS WORK AND THE MOST IMPORTANTLY THERE ARE NO RISK INVOLVED, WE MUST NOT BE GREEDY, THE FUNDS WILL BE DISPATCH IN BOTH PARTS AND ALSO THE SUCCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION DETERMINES ON HOW IT IS BEING HANDLED AND NO ONE ELSE HAS ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION THAN ME AND FOR THE SUCCESS OF THIS DEAL I INTEND KEEPING IT SO.
YOUR EARLIEST RESPONSE WILL BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED.
YOURS FAITHFULLY
JAMES FISHERMAN
AFRICA DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR
I.M.F
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