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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <internamonetaryfunds@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2021 23:43:30 +0100
Subject: FROM THE DESK OF: PRESIDENT KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA
FROM THE DESK OF: PRESIDENT KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA
MANAGING DIRECTOR: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDS (IMF).
ATTENTION OF: BENEFICIARY ,
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, IT WILL INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT THE WORLD POWER ORGANIZATION UNION CONCLUDED THAT ALL ABANDONED PAYMENT FILES SHOULD BE VERIFIED BY THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), UNDER THE DESK OF PRESIDENT (KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA) TO AVOID SCAM OR DELAY. WE CONFIRMED IN WORLD DATABASE RECORD THE SUM OF $15.5 MILLION U.S DOLLARS APPROVED FUND IN YOUR NAME, AND WAS UNCLAIMED AND ABANDONED BY YOU FOR A VERY LONG TIME. YOUR PAST OR PRESENT TRANSACTIONS ARE PLACED ON HOLD HENCEFORTH, AND YOU ARE ADVISED TO GET BACK TO THIS DEPARTMENT FOR FURTHER DIRECTIVES IF YOU ARE INTERESTED TO FINALIZE THE CLAIM OF SAID FUND $15.5 MILLION U.S DOLLARS LEGALLY.
FILL AND SUBMIT REQUESTED DETAILS OF YOURS BELOW:
YOUR NAME......................................
YOUR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.......................
YOUR DIRECT PHONE NUMBER.......................
AMOUNT OF FUND APPROVED........................
YOUR NEXT OF KIN...............................
ZIP CODE...............................................
TWO COPIES OF YOUR PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPH.........
AGE/SEX........................................
YOUR OCCUPATION................................
WE SHALL AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE BEFORE THE END OF TODAY.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
PRESIDENT KRISTALINA GEORGIEVA
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDS 'IMF'
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Anti-fraud resources: