|
|
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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- gondokoffi_4@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Gondo Koffi <gondokoffi02@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 May 2019 16:34:04 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend,
Dear Friend,
I have a proposal for you - this however is not mandatory nor will I in any
manner compel you to honour against your will. I am GONDO KOFFI, and i work
with a bank (one of the African leading banks in the West Coast).
Here in this bank existed a dormant account for the past years which
belonging to ALMOTLAQ a nationality of your country who is now late When I
discovered that there had been no deposits nor withdrawals from this
account for this long period, I decided to carry out a system investigation
and discovered that non of the family member nor relations of the late
person is aware of this account. This is the story in a nutshell.
Now I want an account overseas where the bank will transfer this funds.The
amount is not so much at the moment and plus all the accumulated interest
the balance in this account stands at-(US$ 20.5 million US dollars).twenty
million five hundred thousand dollars.
Now our questions are:-1. Can you handle this project?2. Can I give you
this trust?3. What will be your commission? If you can sponsor this
transfer.Consider this and get back to me as soon as possible.urgency as
well as the secrecy it deserves. I Expect your urgent response if you can
handle this project.
PLEASE REPLY THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS WHICH IS (
gondokoffi_4@hotmail.com)
Thanks.
GONDO KOFFI
|
Anti-fraud resources:
