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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)
- "abidjan" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a "dying widow" scam.
Fraud email example:
From: Mrs Ahalam Abdul <ahalamabdul00101@att.net>
Reply-To: mrsahalamabdul@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 23:54:30 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Assalamu Alaikum.
Assalamu Alaikum.
I am Mrs Ahalam Abdul from Abidjan the capital
of Ivory Coast. I am married to Late Mr Abdulhaq Ali of blessed memory who was a
well known cocoa dealer in from Ivory Coast to London for through out his life
before he died in the year 2007. We where married for 11 years without a
child.
Before his sudden death we where devoted Muslims When my late
husband was alive he deposited the sum of 1.Million Pounds ( £ 1.000.000.00 GBP
) in a fix deposit account with one of the banks there in London using my name
as the beneficiary since we could not bear a child,
Presently this money
is still with the bank in my in United Kingdom and i am very sick from cancer of
the lug despite the fibroid and tumour which denied me a child when my husband
was alive as a result i may not last till the next two months according to my
doctor report so i want to donate to a Muslims organisation or individual who
will use it to work for Allah and i have chose you after making several praying
consultations.
I want this money to be sheared among the next privileged
since i do not have a child to inherit it and my late husband relatives are all
Non-believers and i don't want my husbands heard earn money to be used by
unbelievers since I am sure that they will not utilize the money in the way I
have directed to.
Hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I know
that after death I will be with Allah the most holy and the most
merciful.
It is a very important confidential massage that i will like
to tell you more about it so get in touch with me so that i can fully detail you
what i choose you for and as well give you a little knowledge on how to achieve
it.
Any delay in your respond will give me room to seek for another
Moslems organisation or individual for this same purpose. So pls get back to me
with this my private id
Until i hear from you my dreams lay hugely on
your shoulders
I am waiting to read from you soon
Your Sister
Mrs Ahalam
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