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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:
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: Rita Coulibaly <f.box@infinito.it>
Reply-To: ritacoulibaly@msn.com
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:59:06 -0800 (PST)
Subject: From; Ms. Rita Coulibaly.
From; Ms. Rita Coulibaly.
Abidjan Cote d'ivore.
Dearest,
It is my pleasure to contact you for a business venture which I intend to establish in your country.Although I have not met with you before but I believe one has to risk confiding to succeed sometimes in life.
I am Ms. Rita Coulibaly an orphan presently living with a family that I never knew from Adam, Imaging being alone at this tender age, 19 years old from Sierra leone, daughter of Mr & Mrs Coulibaly and my father was the Secretary and Personal Assistant to former Sierra leone president. I have 5.2 million USD which was deposited by my father before he was assasinated by unknown persons.
My father left this money in a suspence account in a bank in cote d'Ivoire a nearby country. I seek your permision to remmit this money into your account so that i could come to your country for investment and to further my studies. I want you to help me retrieve this money from the bank and transfer it into your personal account in your country for investment purposes on these areas:
1). Telecommunication
2). the transport industry
3). Five star hotel
4). Real Estate
If you can be of an assistance to me i will be pleased to offer to you 30% Of the total money and i will also like you to give me the following informations below.
1. Full Name:...................
2. Complete Address:.....................
3. Present Country....................
4. Valid Contact Phone Numbers:.............
5. Sex:............ Age:........
6. Occupation:....................
My dear right now i am in the UN camp where i am taking refuge because of the politicial crisis that is going on in this country cote d'Ivoire now you can see this website for confirmation ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12010412 ), Please my dear i really need you help.
I await your soonest response
Respectfully yours,
Ms. Rita Coulibaly.
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