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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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.
- unitedbnkplcustomercare@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: " David Lukas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unitedbnkplcustomercare@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 02:10:47 +0200
Subject: BANK TRANSFER
Attention our Dear customer:
We are happy to inform you that your US$1.5 Million has been
transferred to our Missouri Bank for onward remittance into your
bank account today.We couldn't transfer the funds direct into your bank
account due to President Obama's new method of financial rules/regulations ,
His financial institution ordered that any funds above $50,000.00 will be
transferred to United Bank Headquarters in Republic Missouri for
investigation before the final remittance into the beneficiary's account.
The Missouri bank is the only authorized bank to receive/handle any legitimate
transaction from over seas .We heard that you have spent some money in order
to receive your funds which results nothing in return, Now,You will receive
your funds as soon as you contact this bank today.Email the bank as soon as
you receive this email. I hereby direct you to contact United Bank through
this information below.
UNITED BANK PLC
REPUBLIC MISSOURI USA
E-mail : unitedbnkplcustomercare@hotmail.com
Hotlines : +1-225-395-1540
They will complete the remittance of the funds into your Bank account
today once they hear from you. Congratulations once again. thank you for
banking with us.
Yours in service
David Lukas
HSBC BANK CO-OPERATION
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Anti-fraud resources: