|
|
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.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Mike Ineh <mikeineh@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mikeineh7@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 2016 16:15:57 +0700
Subject: The Truth of The Matter
OCEANIC INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC,
OZUMBA MBADIWE AVENUE,
VICTORIA-ISLAND,
NIGERIA.
I AM SEEKING FOR YOUR COOPERATION TO PRESENT YOU TO MY BANK AS THE
NEXT OF KIN TO LATE MR RICHARD PETERSON, A FOREIGN CONTRACTOR WITH
NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM COOPERATION (NNPC):SO THAT THE SUM
HUNDRED,MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLAR (MILLIONS USD) WILL BE PAY TO YOU
AS THE BENEFICIARY.WE ARE TO SHARE THIS MONEY BETWEEN OURSELVES (I AND
YOU) IF YOU ARE RELAY INTERESTED IN THIS OFFER YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME.
EXPECTING TO READ FROM YOU.
MR.MIKE INEH
|
Anti-fraud resources: