|
|
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:
- 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:
- "secretaryandrea@foxmail.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: "2014 USA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wendygodwin@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:16:49 -0000
Subject: DEAR COLLEAGUES!!!!!!!
Dear Colleagues
On behalf of California Human Welfare Foundation. It is a great privilege for us to invite you to global Congress meeting Against Economic Crisis, Prostitution, Human Trafficking and child abuse & HIV/AIDS Treatment, held in the united state and in Dakar Senegal.
All interested delegates that requires entry visa to enter the United States to attend this meeting will be assisted by the organization in obtaining the visa in their passport free air round trip tickets to attend this meeting will be provided to all participants.
For registration contact the secretariat at: secretaryandrea@foxmail.com
Please share the information with your colleagues.
Sincerely,
Dr. Wendy Godwin (Ph.D) Senior
Activities Coordinator,
|
Anti-fraud resources:
