|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "capt.lewisbrown@live.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Capt. Lewis Brown" (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2011 17:30:25 +0700
Subject: DEAR FRIEND
Dear Friend,
My name is Lewis Brown, a Captain in my country Army now on a tour of duty in Northern Iraq. During one of our duty assignment, we stumbled on an Al-Qaeda dump site where was stacked many arms and also cash dollars to the amount of over $50 Million. We only declared the arms and kept quiet concerning the money. The money was shared among us and I being the Platoon commander got $10.7 Million.
My tour is not finished yet and because of my status I am not eligible to possess such a huge amount of money. So I am seeking a trust worthy person who will stand as the beneficiary of this fund on my behalf and move the money to his country and hold it on trust for me until I am back from my national service.
You will be entitled to 20% of the total sum for your assistance. Please bear in mind that this transaction is 100% risk free and also highly confidential so you need to keep it to yourself alone for security reasons because of the huge amount involve. Expect your urgent response through the below email address.
Email: capt.lewisbrown@live.com
Please respond to me with your contact details so as to disclose to you the where about of this fund and further details you need to know.
Best Regards,
Capt. Lewis Brown.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
