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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:
- "into your nominated bank account" (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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
Fraud email example:
From: BARRISTER ANNIE YUENA <barrann@lawyer.com>
Reply-To: acccc5095@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2021 23:13:21 -0400
Subject: GOOD NEWS!!
DEBT RECONCILIATION AND INVESTIGATION BUREAU.
Dear Beneficiary,
We write to inform you that your outstanding fund release process that has dragged for so long due to some issues/bottlenecks is currently being revisited by my office and I am in a position to verify and recommend payment release into your nominated bank account without any further delay.
We received a lot of petitions/memos,asking us to look into most of these complaints and handle the payment release into the certified claims in 10 banking days from the day we open communication with the clients.
All that is required of you presently is to furnish us with the details of your claim,amount involved,amount you spent and how you wish this payment to get to you.
We need your maximum cooperation to enable us to sort out our verification and recommend immediate payment release into your nominated bank account without delay.
We will wait to hear from you as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
Barrister Annie Yuena.
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Anti-fraud resources: