|
|
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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +447031961238 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
Fraud email example:
From: "My Heart" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <386458280@qq.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 15:52:53 -0500
Subject: Hi
greetings my dear,
I am Ashley, forgive me for burdering you. but you have to
understand that after going through your profile, My heart acepted
you,Honestly my heart loves you. I beleive you are the person I am
looking for .I like you my
dear ,and I want to hold a very strong relationship with you. I will send my pictures as soon as
I hear from you I will stop here my love.
I will be traveling out of the UK any time please I need you to call me before
I travel. I want to hear your lovely voice
Please call me if you acept my love
+447031961238
I am waiting for your call
Have a lovely day
Lots of love from
Ashley
|
Anti-fraud resources:
