|
|
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 beloved," (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "god fearing " (scammers in West Africa like to use religious phrases)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: " Mrs Chow Genji" <infosite71@nokiamail.com>
Reply-To: chowgenji1717@nokiamail.com
Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 09:14:44 +0100
Subject: beloved ....
Dear Beloved,
Given my current state of health,I have decided to donate what i inherited from my late husband to you to help the poor and needy.I am Mrs Chow Genji from Hong Kong.I cannot move the funds out of the bank and dispatched it to the poor and needy due to my health condition, so I put faith to test by visiting this social network in search for God fearing people because the Internet is the only means of communication that I can use right now due to my health condition.
I was diagnosed for cancer about 2 years ago and i have few months to live according to medical experts.For more details on this issue it would be appreciated if you send me your full names and Address/country of resident to my private email account : chowgenji1717@nokiamail.com
May God bless you,
Mrs Chow Genji
|
Anti-fraud resources:
