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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:
- "the consignment" (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)
- "trunk box" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "the diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist 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: Takuo<htakuo@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: Takuo<thahong@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 21:46:23 +0700
Subject: Get back to me
Good day,
My name is Ms Takuo Jean.A United Nations supervisory officer.I will give you more detail about myself upon your respond.
There is an abandoned shipment from a diplomat.It revealed an undisclosed sum of money in a Metal Trunk Box weighing 115kg each.
the consignment was abandoned because the content was not properly declared
by the consignee as money rather it was declared as personal effect to avoid diversion by the shipping agent also the inability of the diplomat to pay for non inspection fees.
On my assumption,each of the box will contain more than $2 to $2.5m each
and the consignment is still left in storage house till today through a registered
shipping Company,Courier Dispatch Service a division of Aramex but it is properly
secured since all is under my control.The consignment
they are two metal box with weight of about 115kg each.(international dimension:
W61xH156xD73(cm). Effective capacity:680L.)Approximately.
I want us to transact this business and share the money, since the shippers have abandoned it and ran away. I will pay for the Non inspection fee and arrange for the boxes to be moved out of this Airport to your address, once we are through I will deploy the services of a secured shipping Company geared to provide the security it needs to your doorstep.
All communication must be held extremely confidential. I can get everything concluded within 24hrs upon your acceptance and proceed to your address for delivery.I will give you 40% but i must get assurance from you if you agreed with my condition. I wait to hear from you.
Best regard,
Takuo Jean.
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