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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:
- "million pounds" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "MS. MELISSA MILNER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <award_payment_office@lifegate.it>
Date: Sat, 29 May 2010 07:51:43 -0700
Subject: RE: UNCLAIMED PAYMENT APPROVED..........
The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd.,
The Garden House,
Water End,
York, YO30 6WQ.
We write to notify you that the Commission on Unclaimed Money and
Assets has stated clearly to UK government that an estimated £400m
Four Hundred Million Pounds Sterling is thought to be lying unclaimed
in various bank accounts in UK that belong to oversea Beneficiaries
that have not been able to claimed there funds for over 3-10 years now.
Based on these information UK government had a meeting with all banks
in UK and instructed all Banking institution involved to release all asset
belonging to oversea beneficiay's throug the supervision of Scarman Trust
(ST) and (JRF) The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd. Please view the
link below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5171222.stm.
Furthermore, we happily announced to you that you are one of the
oversea beneficiary whose name and e-mail address appears in our
payment list. To enable us proceed with your payment evaluation you
have to (CONTACT REV. JIM MINTON) for more information with this
Payment Code (JFR-PAYMENT/UK/ST-90801).
NAME: REV. JIM MINTON (PAYMENT APPROVED DIRECTOR)
EMAIL: rev_jim_minton@jrf-co-uk.com / info@jrf-co-uk.com
TEL: +44 776 381 4367 Fax: +44 870 479 6992
Yours faithfully,
Ms. Melissa Milner
JRF PRO.
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