|
|
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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "top secret" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "foreign remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "contract award committee" (the name of a person or institution often appearing 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: Mr Idris Musa <mridrismusa303020@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mridrismusa20204@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2023 14:36:59 +0100
Subject: Waiting to hear from you.
Dear Friend
I am. Mr. Idris Musa, I'm the Chairman of FOREIGN PAYMENTS CONTRACT
AWARD COMMITTEE and also Director of Foreign Remittance Department of
African Development Bank (ADB) Burkina Faso, Please see this as a
confidential message and do not reveal it to another person because
it’s a top secret
i am writing to seek for your highly esteemed consent/assistance in a
lasting business relationship of mutual benefit involving $17.4
Million Usd for investment in your country, under a joint venture
partnership.
Thank you for accommodating my inquiry, as i look forward to hear from
you on this business collaboration and meeting with you soon.
(1)Your Full name:..........................
(2)Your Age.................................
(3)Your Occupation:.................................
(4) Your Mobile phone number:.....................
Waiting to hear from you.
Yours truly,
Mr. Idris Musa
|
Anti-fraud resources:
