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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.
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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
- +23414764023 (Nigeria, landline)
- +2348039248185 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: shawn irvin <shawnirvin76@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 23:33:25 +0100 (BST)
Subject: GOOD DAY
DEAR GOOD DAY,
I AM SHAWN INVIN,PAYMENT CONTROLLER GENERAL OF NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEM CO-OPERATION(NNPC)WE HAVE $12.5M OVER INVOICE MONEY AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR A RELIABLE PERSON WHOM WE WILL MOVE THE MONEY TO HIM OR HER FOR JOINT BUSINESS BETWEEN US AND HIM OR HER.
WE HAVE AGREED TO OFFER YOU 25% OF THE TOTAL MONEY WERE THE REMAINING 75% WILL BE HELD BY YOU BASED ON TRUST FOR GOOD AND PROFITABLE BUSINESS IN YOUR COUNTRY.
PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR FULL NAME,YOUR FULL ADDRESS AND YOUR PHONE NUMBER.
AWAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU.
SHAWN INVIN
234-80-39248185(MOBILE)
234-1-4764023
LAGOS NIGERIA
REPLY ONLY ON:shawnirvin07@hotmail.com
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Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email.
Anti-fraud resources: