|
|
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.
- 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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "from the desk of" (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)
- This email message is a next of kin scam.
- 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.
- musaedward83@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: musa edward <akanfando@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: musaedward83@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2019 14:33:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: From the Desk of Musa Edward
From the Desk of Musa Edward
(BOA) Bank of Africa.Read and Reply to my Private Email (musaedward83@gmail.com)
Dear friend,
I am Mr. Musa Edward, The head of file department of Bank of Africa (BOA) Here in Burkina Faso / Ouagadougou. In my department we discover an abandoned sum of (US$11.million US DOLLARS) (Eleven million US DOLLARS) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died in a plane crash along with his family. Since 1996.i Want you to come and stand as next of kin to achieve this fund since you are a foreigner my bank will be convince and approve the fund to you. Write me here (musaedward83@gmail.com) while I will deals you more whenever I receive your respond to my offer. Call my private mobile line which is +226 67 11 27 67 i wait to hear from you sooner to enable us process the transfer to your account.
Thanks and God bless you,
Best regards,
Mr. Musa Edward
|
Anti-fraud resources:
