|
|
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:
- "power of attorney" (with your bank details and a power of attorney form criminals sometimes empty bank accounts)
- "dormant account" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- 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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- gtcontinental47@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. William Dudley"
Reply-To: <gtcontinental47@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2023 23:50:04 -0800
Subject: PAYMENT UNCLAIMED
A power of attorney was forwarded to our office this morning by one gentle man, he is an American national and his Name is Mr. Hermann Graber, This man claimed to be your representative and this power of attorney stated that you are dead, he brought an account to replace your information in other to claim your fund of $2,500.000.00 (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) which is now lying in a dormant account UNCLAIMED.Please confirm to me immediately if you sent this person to claim the money on your behalf. If you are not the one who sent him on your behalf kindly write me immediately to debunk his claim so that we can process it to you as soon as possible thank you. Contact to My Email is: gtcontinental47@gmail.com
|
Anti-fraud resources:
