|
|
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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "a security company " (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. Never ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- ",000,000" (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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- agnes.kasse@hotmail.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "globe018 Gazeta.pl" <globe018@gazeta.pl>
Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 11:49:04 +0000
Subject: Response Needed
From:Mrs.Agnes Kasse
Address:05 BP 2451 Abidjan 05
Côte d'Ivoire
Dear Sir/Madam.
It's my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I and my two
daughters intend to establish in your country.Though I have not met with you
before but I believe one has to risk confiding in someone to succeed
sometimes in life.My husband before he was assasinated during the civil war
in my country by unknown persons was minister for Agriculture.There is this
huge amount of money fourteen million U.S dollars($14,000,000.00) which my
late Husband deposited for us in a security company here in Cote'd ivoire
during the war.Right now I and my two daughters have decided to invest these
money in your country or anywhere safe enough for security purposes.We want
you to help us to transfer this money to your country for investment
purposes.
If you can be of an assistance to us we will be pleased to offer to you 20%
of the total fund.I had an accident some few weeks back and am still in the
hospital,so I would want you to reply as soon as possible.Please reply to my
private email address:agnes.kasse@hotmail.fr
Thank you and God bless you.
Sincerely,
Mrs Agnes Kasse
Anti-fraud resources: