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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 united state dollars" (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)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Williams <williamscatim@cantv.net>
Reply-To: wcatim2014@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 14:25:36 +0000
Subject: Hello dearest
Hello dearest
Please permit my introduction. My name is Williams and my sister's name is
Suzan. I am 19 years of age. We are from Republic of Sierra Leone. I found
your contact address through my late father's international business
directory and I decided to contact you to seek your kind assistance in
helping us to relocate to your country for further studies and for
investment of the money we inherited from our late father. We lost our
parents few months ago in a ghastly motor accident. My mother died
instantly when the accident happened but my father sustained a very severe
injury which resulted to his untimely death four days after he was rushed
down to a private hospital. May there soul
rest in perfect peace. My late father spent his whole life in the building
and construction industry as an engineer. He left behind for us $8,300,000
million united State dollars. which according to him he realized from the
execution of some government contracts that was awarded to him and some of
his colleagues in the office. Before he died at the hospital he told me
that he deposited the money in the bank in a neighboring country called
Ivory coast. He advised me not to let his half brother to know about the
money because he suspected he was the person that masterminded the
mysterious accident. He advised me to look for somebody in a country of my
choice abroad who can assist us and secretly transfer the money abroad so
that we can invest it in real estate and distance his half brother.
We chose to finally relocate to your peaceful country with this money so
that you can guild us and invest it properly in
real estate. We will also further our college education under your
guardianship. I am writing to seek your kind help and advice if it will be
possible for you to assist me and my little sister achieve our dream of
relocating to your peaceful country with this money, for investment of the
money and further studies. Please if you cannot be able to assist us to
transfer this money to your country, you tell me so that l will look for
another person because l sent this mail to you before.
We are now in Ivory Coast and have succeeded in locating the bank where my
late father deposited the money and have identified our self properly and
also informed them about the sad fate my parents had suffered. The bank
confirmed the deposit document and said that my late father deposited the
money in their bank escrow suspense account for safe keep. So i will need
your help in the following ways, to stand as our overseas guardian
so that the bank can release and transfer the money to your bank account
and then make arrangement for a good business investment which you will
invest with the money on our behalf. I hope with your help we will have the
money successfully transferred to your country and we will have a better
life to live in your country under your guardianship.
It is true that i do not know you in person but i pray and hope that you
have it in your heart to assist us with all sincerity and honesty. You will
guild us and invest the money in real estate and also manage the investment
until we are capable. Please if you can help us, i will want you to send
your contact information that the bank can use to contact you so that i can
make your name available to the bank as my late father's overseas business
partner and guardian that will attest on our behalf for the release of the
money. I am willing to give you any amount which you
will wish to have after helping us achieve our dream of relocating to your
country with this money. Thank you and May God bless you and your family as
you help us achieve our dream of relocating to your country to start a new
life and further our education under your guardianship.
Sincerely
Williams & Suzan Catim
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