|
|
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:
- 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:
- "inheritance funds" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: lambert uche <wwwp901@gmail.com>
Reply-To: lambertlamuche@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 03:48:43 -0800
Subject: HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR FUND ($10.5 MILLION USD)??
Attention
HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR FUND ($10.5 MILLION USD)??
Your contract/inheritance funds amounting to $10.5 million only with
transfer Reference #NNPC/PED/01/21 are ready for immediate transfer.
During my routine audit exercise as the head of the Financial
Surveillance Unit, I discovered that you have an outstanding fund that
has been waiting to be transferred to your account
I placed these funds on hold due to double claims on it because I
discovered that there was an attempt towards the end of last month to
transfer this part-payment of $10.5 million USD to a US-based account
belonging to Abel Wiegel
If you have not received this fund and did not authorize Able Wiegel
to receive your funds on your behalf, do not hesitate to respond
immediately to claim your funds.
I want to be sure before approving the transfer of the funds.
Dr. Lambert Uche
Foreign Operations.
International Monetary Fund
|
Anti-fraud resources:
