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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:
- "activation 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. )
- "i am using this medium to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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.
- 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.
- officemessage54@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MR ONUORAH IFEANYI <wutransferbenin@gmail.com>
Reply-To: officemessage54@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:54:30 +0900 (KST)
Subject: YOUR PAYMENT
ATTN;BENEFICIARY:
THE INFORMATION REACHING US FROM OUR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS NOW,
STATES THAT YOU ONLY HAVE 48HOURS TO EFFECT PAYMENT FOR THE ACTIVATION OF YOUR
MTCN TO ENABLE YOU CASH UP YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF $5,000:00 FROM YOUR TOTAL
(FUND) SINCE YOU ARE FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE THIS PAYMENT WE HAVE DECIDED
THAT YOU ARE TO GO AHEAD AND PAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE FOR THE ACTIVATION FEE SINCE
YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO COME UP WITH THE REQUIRED SUM,TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
HERE.YOU ARE TO PAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE FOR THE ACTIVATION FEE, WE WILL ACTIVATE
YOUR MTCN UPON RECEIPT OF THIS PAYMENT.
BE INFORMED THAT YOU WILL HAVE
TO PAY THE BALANCE SUM OF YOUR ACTIVATION UPON CASHING UP OF YOUR FIRST 5,000:00
USD, ALSO I AM USING THIS MEDIUM TO INFORM YOU THAT FAILURE TO PAY THE BALANCE
SUM WILL LEAVE US WITH NO OPTION BUT TO DEACTIVATE YOUR MTCN OF WHICH YOU WILL
AND CAN NEVER CASH UP THE BALANCE SUM OF $5000USD AGAIN I WANT YOU TO SEND THE
RENEWING AND TRANSFER FEE WITH THE INFORMATION BELLOW.
1.RECEIVER NAME:............. MR ONUORAH
IFEANYI
2.COUNTRY:............. BENIN REPUBLIC WEST
AFRICA.
3.CITY :............... COTONOU .
4..TEST QUESTION:....HONEST
5.TEST
ANSWER:......TRUST.
6.MTCN..............
7.SENDER NAME..........
8.AMOUNT................
EMAIL
US WITH BELOW ( officemessage54@yahoo.com.hk )ONCE
YOU SEND THE MONEY OKEY NOTE THIS YOUR PAYMENT INFORMATION BUT YOUR MTCN MUST BE
ACTIVATE BEFORE WE CAN RELEASE THE FUNDS TO YOU SO IF YOU WANT TO TRACK THE
MONEY AND CONFIRM IF THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERED ENTER OUR WEBSITE WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM
THEN CLICK TRACKING AND ENTER THE MTCN NUMBER; 009-972-5623
ENTER SENDERS FIRST CHARLES ENTER SENDERS LAST NAME ALEXANDER AND CLICK
TRACKING AND IT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOUR FUNDS IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PICK IT
UP SENDER NAME: ROBERT CRAIN
WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM
MTCN-----009-972-5623
SENDER----ROBERT CRAIN
AMOUNT------$5000USD
http://www.westernunion.com/info/selectCountry.asp
FINALY
URGENT SEND US THE MONEY TO ENABLE US PROCEED ON YOUR PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY RIGHT
NOW.ABOVE IS OUR ACCOUNT'S INFORMATION FOR YOU TO SEND THE MONEY THROUGH
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER BEEN OUR TRANSFERING CHARGERS FOR YOUR $5000.00
USD.
EMAIL US:: ( officemessage54@yahoo.com.hk )
YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED .
MR ONUORAH IFEANYI WESTERN UNION HEAD
OFFICE DEPARTMENT
REPUBLIC OF BENIN.
FOREGN CONTRACTOR PAYMENT
OFFICEOUR PHONE NUMBER
+22997764220
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Anti-fraud resources:
