|
|
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.
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. Charles W. Jr" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jcharles90097@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2022 13:03:20 -0700
Subject: Greetings my dear friend
Greeting!
I am contacting you to receive and share with me an abandoned fund (
$21,537.000.00 ) left in our bank by a deceased customer. I was going
through the Internet search when I found your email address. My name
is Mr. Charles .W Jr..
I want to utilize this opportunity and make use of this fund if I
should present your name to the bank to stand as his business
associate/ trustee for the fund to be released to you via Visa card
for easy withdrawals in any VISA ATM machine anywhere in the World.
The bank will also give you international online transfer options.
With these you can transfer the funds without any risk.
Should you be interested in working with me in this project? Please
reply back and let's benefit from this golden opportunity. You are my
first contact.. I shall wait a few days and if I do not hear from you,
I shall look for another person.
Thanks and have a nice day,
Mr. Charles .W Jr
|
Anti-fraud resources:
