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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "dear sir/madam" (a standard Nigerian greeting phrase)
- "very confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "transaction is risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
- 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.
- +447024070361 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.james_davis@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. James Davis" <morgan.stanley42@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: mr.james_davis@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2015 13:01:44 -0300
Subject: Re:Get Back To Me
--
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Mr. James Davis.from UK and a financial consultant with a
prime bank in UK. I consult for an UK based specialist private bank that
accepts deposits from high net worth individuals, blue chip corporations
and commodities traders in United Kingdom.
I am contacting you to partner with me to secure the funds £28Million
Great British Pounds ( Twenty Eight Million Great British Pounds) kept
in the custody of a bank in United Kingdom by one of former associate of
the late president of Libya who is now deceased. The fund was deposited
as an investment Fund in 2007 with an open beneficiary. The funds has
been with the bank without anybody coming up for the claims. I honestly
seek your assistance to move this fund into your custody for safekeeping
as the depositor have known next of kin.
I have all the documents necessary to claim the funds as I am directly
involved in the deposit. All I need to do is to make you the beneficiary
of the funds by filling in your name in the appropriate document and
immediately move the funds out of its present place in your name to your
account for safe keeping. The funds will be used for investment purposes
in your country. This process will not cost you any money upfront. We
decided to do this as we know the circumstances surrounding the deposit
and knowing very well that the depositor of the fund will not come back
to claim the funds. I will send to you all the documents relating to
this deposit and direct you on how to apply for the fund. I will give
you further details when I receive your response. I will ensure all
procedures to see the successful completion of this project.
I assure you that this transaction is risk free .Be rest assured that we
will not encounter any difficulty as the person directly involved in
approving the release of the funds is also participating in this
transaction. This is legal and we propose 55-45% sharing pattern once
the fund is transferred to your account. My telephone number is
+447024070361. My private email is (mr.james_davis@yahoo.com) If you are
100% interested kindly respond with your personal details to enable us
proceed further and if you are not please delete and don"t reply.
Please keep this very confidential. Let me know if you will be of
assistance.
Yours Sincerely
Mr. James Davis
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