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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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "million dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "barr." (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: Chika Umeh <madridlacaixa@yahoo.es>
Reply-To: <cumeh@yahoo.cn>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 20:10:58 +0000
Subject: Information.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Barrister Chika Umeh, a Solicitor and an Advocate of the supreme court; I am the Personal Attorney to Robert Chapman.
I am contacting you to assist in retrieving his money valued at Eighteen Million Dollars that he left behind with the a Bank, before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank.
Should you be interested please, P.s. furnish me with below information, after which I will provide you with more details of this transaction and how to proceed.
1) Your full name and address
2) Your occupation and age
3) Your private/direct telephone and fax number for easy communication
Please get in touch with me with the below email Address: (cumeh@yahoo.cn)
Thanks
Barr. Chika Umeh
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Anti-fraud resources: