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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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "HSBC London Office" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <henrybanko1970@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2018 07:43:59 -0700
Subject: CHECK YOUR EMAIL
HSBC BANK PLC LONDON UK.(REGISTERED NO.1026167).
ADDRESS: 8 CANADA SQUARE , CANARY WHARF , LONDON E14 5HQ , UK
This letter is from HSBC London UK Financial Conduct Department. We have been authorized by the World Bank in conjunction with IMF to release some funds that has been own to you and your company base on the resent United Nations report. Kindly get back to us with your full name, address and direct phone numbers where you can be reach for onward release of the funds to you in USA.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. John M. Flint
Group Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director
HSBC Bank PLC London
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Anti-fraud resources: