|
|
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.
Fraud email example:
From: ksvpjames1970@gmail.com
Reply-To: aachambers@yandex.com
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2015 10:02:08 -0800
Subject: Attention
Hello,
I am Enrique Zachary, I am contacting you in regards to unclaimed funds close to $3.5 million belonging to one of my late client who shares the same last name with you. I have monitored this account closely for the past 5 years and nobody ever came up to claim the money or ever made inquiry about his account. I would like to know if you are interested in claiming these funds with my special assistance on the procedures.The funds will be sent to the government treasure as unclaimed funds within 90 days from now and i do not want this to happen. Kindly respond to this email as soon as possible for more details.
Sincerely
Enrique Zachary
|
Anti-fraud resources:
