|
|
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:
- "claims office" (real lotteries do not use a "claim agent" / "fiduciary agent")
- "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)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
- They don't notify winners by email.
- You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
- They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
- They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
- They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
- They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
- They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +2348079056157 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
- 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.
- verificationunit.chevron101@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "CHEVRON ONLINE PROMO" <noreply@chevron.com>
Reply-To: chevron2008promo@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 10:07:36 -0000 (GMT)
Subject:
THE CHEVRON/TEXACO OIL COMPANY
1092 CHEVRON LAYOUT, WUSE ZONE 2,
WUSE, ABUJA. NIGERIA.
THE CHEVRON/TEXACO OFFICIAL PRIZE NOTIFICATION.
You have been selected in the on-going Chevron/Texaco award held this
September 2008. We the promo board are pleased to inform you that, you
alongside four(4) other lucky winners have been approved for a payment
of $500,000.00 USD. (Five hundred thousand Dollars) in cash.
Your verification number is: (CT-222-6747,FGN/P-900-56).
Contact the claims officer below, for directives and guidelines to claim
your prize.
CLAIMS PROCESSING OFFICER:
Mr. Kenneth Davids
EMAIL: verificationunit.chevron101@gmail.com
Phone: (+234) 807 905 6157
You are also advised to provide him with the under listed information
as soon as possible:
NAME IN FULL:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
PHONE:
FAX:
MOBILE:
SEX (M/F):
We are glad to have you as one of our luckly winners.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Chike Madu.
Online Co-ordinator.
Co-sponsors of this online promotion are listed herein: Shell Oil
Company, EcoBank, Pepsi Corporation, and the Federal Government of
Nigeria.
Anti-fraud resources:
