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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)
- "million united states dollars" (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)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Head of Remittance Department CITY BANK OF AMERICA . Address: 2 South" <officefill458@gmail.com>
Reply-To: citibankofgo31@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:00:40 +0100
Subject: From the desk of: Mr. Greg Stewart Head of Remittance Department CITY
BANK OF AMERICA . Address: 2 South
From the desk of: Mr. Greg Stewart
Head of Remittance Department CITY BANK OF AMERICA . Address: 2 South
Michigan Avenue, Chicago Illinois. USA.
My Dear Beneficiary.
We have this day, received a payment credit instruction from the
United Nations and World bank representative office in Switzerland to
credit your account with your compensation funds allocated in your
name to the tune of TEN Million United States Dollars from their
reserve joint accounts of World Bank/United Nations with us here.
We are told that you are one of the listed citizen that fall into the
victim of scam by Africans some time ago and have to accept this
amount as your full compensation from the World Bank /United Nations
as you have been approved to claim this if you can accept it under
minding any amount you might spend with them.
However, you shall required to re-confirm the following details as
specified below to effect the wire transfer aforementioned above to
your designated account details:
AND FIND ALL THE INFORMATION REQUESTED ATTACHED ABOVE:
{1}. Your Full Name:
{2}. Sex and Age:
{3}. Your Home Address And City/Country:
{4). Your Confidential Cell Phone and Fax:
{5}. Your Bank name:
{6). Your Bank Address:
{7}. Your A/c Numbers:
{8}. Your Beneficiary Names:
{9}. Your Swift Code: N/A:
{10}. Your Routing Numbers:
With this requested information, this bank shall commence with the
transfer in your favor and also have it in mind that your information
is highly protected by this great bank. Please do provide the above
information accurately, because this office cannot afford to be held
liable for any wrong transfer of funds or liability of funds credited
into a ghost account.
Thanks for your co-operation while looking forward to serving you with
the best of our service.
Thanks for your co-operation.
Best Regards,
Mr. Greg Stewart.
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