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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:
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: yodok <yodok@sefanet.ch>
Reply-To: abatal@ymail.com
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 23:15:50 +0100
Subject: Donation of Mrs Adeela Batal.
Donation of Mrs Adeela Batal.
Let me first of all inform you, I got your email address from a mail
Directory and decided to mail you for a permission to go ahead. I am Mrs.
Adeela Batal, a widow to late Baasim Batal from Kuwait, who worked with
Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before dying in 2007. We were
married for twenty years without a child. He died after a brief illness that
lasted only four days. my late husband deposited a sum of (two million five
hundred dollars, USD) in the bank in suspense account which i inherited from
my late husband. this money is still with the Bank and the management just
Wrote me as the beneficiary to come forward to receive the money but because
of my condition i have decided to Issue a letter of authority to you so that
you can receive the money on my behalf.
I am presently in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment Cancer
of the lungs. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors have told
me that I have only a few months to live so I think the best thing to do is
to use the money for charity purposes. I want a person who is trustworthy to
utilize 60% of this money to fund for charity purposes. i am ready to issue
you the authorization from the high court of justice as soon as you give me
your full contact detail. I shall give you the contact details of the Bank
immediately the authorization is ready .Please assure me that you will act
accordingly as I stated here in and Keep this contact confidential till such
a time this funds get to your Custody. This is to ensure that nothing
jeopardizes my last wish on Earth.I await your urgent reply. May almighty
God bless you and your family.
Regards,
Mrs. Adeela Batal.
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