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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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:
- "security keeping fee" (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. )
- "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. )
- "money transfer control number" (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. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "abuja" (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.
- 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.
- upscourier_delivery@post.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "United Parcel Service LTD" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cmlinfo@gala.net>
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:18:02 +0100
Subject: RwD"
United Parcel Service LTD (UPS)
(Customer Service Department)
Gariki Abuja-Nigeria Branch
Email:upscourier_delivery@post.com
+2348072239089
INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY DEPARTMENT
Dear Customer,
Compliment of the day to you dear customer I am Dr. Jude Abel the newly
appointed Dispatch Officer for the UPS Courier Service, Gariki Branch. I
wish to inform you that a shipment order will be placed on your parcel
with Registration #: 392R-3TVD-CQF the parcel was tendered to us by
Officials of the United Nations for onward delivery to your address:
Your parcel which was placed on hold by the custom officers has been
cleared Tariff Act of 1930 and Title 19 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFRow). Under the Department of Homeland Security the
parcel with Registration #: 392R-3TVD-CQF has been cleared and ready to
be dispatch to you.
In regards to your mail yes your name is in the file of those who has
not claim their parcel. As the newly appointed Dispatch Officer it is my
duty to ensure that your parcel get to you without any delay just
because of the bad name given to us by the past Director and complains
from some of our customer claims that co-ordinators has been extorting
money from customer and never send their parcel to them, As the new
Dispatch Officer a meeting was held on the 7th of September to make
sure that the files of all customer are being looked into and also check
out for customers that have paid and never received their parcel that
was when we actually found out that you have not redeemed.
To that effect we decided to help customers with the issue who has not
receive their parcel, Please to enable us dispatch this parcel to the
right fully owner you are advise to reconfirm your current shipping
details so that we can update your profile and your parcel delivery to
you without any delay.
Note: You are only required to pay $53 for Security Keeping Fee of your
parcel since you have paid for your shipment. Payment of this Security
Keeping should be made directly to my officer details :
Payment should be made via Western Union Money Transfer Services
directly to our office with the details below..
Receiver Name : Benson Osifo
Location: 9 Ajayi Street Benin City Nigeria Text Question: Who is Good
Answer: God
Immediately after payment of charges send us an email with the details
below:
1: Sender's Name:
2: Sender's Address:
3: MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number):
4. Amount Sent:
On the confirmation of you payment your package will be set for delivery
which you will receive within 36hours.
Your package contain the following information
I. AN ATM CARD (Issued by the GUARANTEE TRUST BANK) II. ORIGINAL COPY
OF INSURANCE BOND III. UNITED NATIONS VTI INVITATION LETTER IV.
CERTIFICATE OF CLEAR SOURCE OF FUNDS ORIGIN (Issued by Internal Revenue
Board)
PACKAGE WEIGHT: 41.52g
PACKAGE COLOUR: Brown
REG NUMBER: CVL/TW/US/254.
We sincerely hope the above information is helpful to you. Should you
have any further question do not hesitate to write to us.
I hope that you use the fund judiciously by serving humanity. Thanks
for using our firm as i expect a copy of the receipt of mail soon.
Regards
Dr. Jude Abel
(c) 2011 UPS Courier Ltd. All Rights Reserved
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