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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:
- "hundred thousand 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 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: capt john white <dracic@pio.rs>
Reply-To: <johnwhit34@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 16 May 2021 10:29:26 -0700
Subject: I will wait for your reply
My name is John White, a serving soldier of the US Army currently in Syria. I have a very important proposal for you and it's very urgent, so iI gat to be very brief about it. The last time I and my rapid battalion members carried out an attack against the ISIS terrorists here, we recovered some cash from the terrorist hideout which we shared amongst us and right now I wish to move my share of the cash to a more safe zone. The money involved is the sum of Eleven Million Five Hundred Thousand US dollars (11.5M USD), that's why I'm contacting you.
I know you might be wondering how I got your mail address, well 'ill tell you. I got your mail contact from the online random search I conducted. Anyways I want you to know that I'm willing to offer you a 40% share of the whole amount which is $4.6 million USD if you ready to handle this for me.
So let me know if are interested in my proposal.
I will wait for your reply
Thanks and Be Safe
captain John Whites
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Anti-fraud resources: