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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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: Interpol Benin <edwinpina77@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Interpol Benin <interpolbenin55@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 07:12:32 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Your ATM VISA CARD is here
Dear beneficiary,
This is to inform you that we have discovered your inheritance funds
total amount of $2.8 Million USD herein Benin republic, we discovered
your funds during our official investigations with ECO-BANK Benin
yesterday, the Eco-bank Benin has credited your funds
$2.8 Million USD into an ATM VISA card and your ATM card is now under
our custody and will be delivered to your home address as soon as we
could hear from you.
Therefore, you are expected to get back to us with your full name, home
address and your mobile phone number so that we can be able to register
your ATM card for the immediate delivery to your home address under 24
hours.
Yours on duty
Inspector John Luiz
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Anti-fraud resources: