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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:
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "mtcn" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "cotonou" (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.
- Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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.
- +447024053772 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)
- 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.
- victoriawesternunionmoneytransfe@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <vowwesternunionoffoce.benin@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2003 23:32:42 +0100
Subject: Recieve Your Western Union Of $5000
From: Office of the western union money transfer.
web site. www.westernunion.com
beneficiary:
This is to notify you that your email address entered during the Sony electronics Europe net selection draw and has won the sum of
usd$800.000.00(eight hundred thousand dollar only) this numbers below was what the Sony electronic Europe company sent to
us for your immediate payment.
(Ref: pp-357273-BR and number batch: C/53853 so please you are advises to go trough this email carefully and
make sure you understand and ready to comply with the contents before replying to it.
We are instructed by this authority to transfer your fund to you via our service (western union money transfer) so you will be receiving
USD$5,000.00 daily until it complete the correct amount ($950.215.00Dollars).
Meanwhile the transfer charges will be $198usd for the $5,000.00 that we have already remitted to you.
So we are waiting for you now to confirm the first payment before wesend another.
Here is the information of the one we sent today to you but it will still be on hold for security reason till we confirm that you have
received this message.
http://www.westernunion.com/ info/selectcountry.asp
sender first name:Bill
sender last name:Smith
MTCN: 662-198-7352
Amount:USD$5000.00
your urgent respond is highly needed .
Regards
Williams Victoria
Foreign operation manager
western union Branch Office Cotonou Benin
Headquarters London- +447024053772
E-mail:victoriawesternunionmoneytransfe@yahoo.com.hk
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Anti-fraud resources:
