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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.
Fraud email example:
From: WESTERN UNOIN <officeline22@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: uwww.western42@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:20:05 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: RE GOOD NEWS TO YOU GET BACK TO US
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS BENIN REPUBLIC 01 BP 1001 BOULEVARD COTONOU Re: Trust western union to get it there safely We hereby inform you that we have processed your payment and wired the first $10,000 with this exclusive Vide Transaction detail:
Estimated Exchange Rate and Payout Amount;
Exchange Rate
1 US Dollar (USD) = 457.8314051CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payout Amount
Estimated local currency sent out = 4578315.00CFA Franc BCEAO (XOF)
Sender:--------------- Ezenwa Chika
MTCN:----------------- 2712547390
Amount:---------------$10,000.00
Receiver will get money at an agent location, once you have met up with the required needed to make this claim. You can track the payment on our website: www.westernunion.com
I look forward to the pleasure of your kind favourable response fairly soon, in the meantime with kindest regards and best wishes. Sincerely, Khalid FELLAHI
Hotline: 00 228 66375 9445
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Anti-fraud resources:
