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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:
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: "URGENT ATTENTION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info@evergreenbank.tk>
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:43:04 -0800
Subject: ENTRUSTED INHERITANCE
EVER GREEN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
OREGON UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TEL: (+1) 541 - 210 - 9576
Hi,
This is Ever Green Bank and i write to inform you that we received power of Attorney from a lawyer whose name is Zachary Fardon and the content stated that late Ms.Susan White who died as a result of chronic cancer disease has willed her estate valued $5.6million to you. The deceased instructed that fund be released to you so that you can use part of the money to support charity organization closest to you.
Kindly contact us with the following below:
Full name:...........
Address:.............
Tel..................
Sex:.................
Occupation:..........
Upon receipt of information above, i shall proceed with payment modality to enable you gain access to late Ms.Susan White's
estate valued $5.6m and change of particulars to your favor.
I await your swift response.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Hyde
President & CEO
EVER GREEN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.
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Anti-fraud resources:
