419 scam: " Visa Inc. " <zunsal@mersin.edu.tr> RE:Your Visa Card

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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.
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.
- +2348076026080 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: " Visa Inc. " <v-card.inc@info.al>
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2010 04:35:23 +0300 (EEST)
Subject: RE:Your Visa Card

Good day,
Visa Inc. is an American global payments technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Visa connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to use digital currency instead of cash and checks. The company facilitates the processing of transactions on behalf of people, financial institutions and merchants through Visa Net.

Revenue S$6.91 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Operating income US$3.54 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Net income US$2.35 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Total assets US$32.3 Billion (FY 2009)[2]
Total equity US$23.2 Billion (FY 2009)[2]

Adding more to our outstanding profile, VISA Inc has decided to distribute 15 VISA Cards to the general public. Each worth $750,000.00
Do you want to be a proud owner of this Card worth $750,000.00 and that can be accessible at any part of the world? Then act fast by contacting us if interested otherwise, kindly Disregard this E-mail.
The First 15 Recipients of this mail to act as instructed would be extinguished owner's of this Visa Card.

For more informationâ€™s, Please sms or call us now to +234 80 760 260 80 or kindly disregard this Mail please.

Regards and kindly update us if interested.
* Â© Copyright 1996-2010 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam