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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:
- "there is no risk involved" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "Frank Mbewa" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <frank.mbewa@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 09:23:06 +0100
Subject: My Apology Please Read
Hello Friend,
My name is Frank Mbewa the personal attorney to Late Shahid Bhat, A Kenyan business tycoon and the owner of Modern Coast
Buses who was shot to death by unknown gunmen on July 11th. 2014. He was driving from the airport with his son Ali when
the gangsters shot him to death. view the link below for the full story:
http://africanspotlight.com/2014/07/11/businessman-shahid-bhat-shot-dead-changamwe-pictured/
You can as well watch the below video clip
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/ktn/index.php/video/watch/2000080833/-son-of-modern-coast-bus-owner-who-was-shot-during-his-father-s-killing-has-lost-his-leg
Late Shahid Bhat had a deposit of Eight Million, Five hundred thousand British pounds in a security firm in United Kingdom. No one is aware of this deposit except me because I personally went with him to the security firm to make this deposit. He did not declare any next of kin at this deposit. As his personal lawyer, I have with me the certificate of deposit which you MUST submit to the security firm before claiming the deposit. I will also issue you a power of attorney as his lawyer to make the claim of the deposit as the new
beneficiary.
There is no risk involved, Everything will be done legitimately. This is real and not one of those hoax letters flying over the internet. As soon as you receive this deposit, We will share it in 50-50 ratio.
Your quick response will be highly appreciated.
Thanks
Frank Mbewa
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