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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:
- "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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "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.
- richardken2011@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Mr. RICHARD KEN" <strobe407@peoplepc.com>
Reply-To: "Mr. RICHARD KEN" <richardken2011@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:41:15 +0200 (GMT+02:00)
Subject: Western Union Money Transfer
Attn please,
We try sending to you the payment $5,000 today but we keep getting an "error in our system on your name from the tax security office, saying that your name is blacklisted on their records and you won’t be allowed to receive any transfer out from this country.
They said you had a transaction deal involving your self with some wanted fraudsters in this country. So that is the reason why they blacklisted your name and every funds sending to your name is been monitored and will be stopped by the security clearance office.
You can be in touch with this office so that they can have your name removed from the red flagged for us to be able in sending out your funds to you.
Get in touch with the officer in charge,
Mr. RICHARD KEN
Tax Security Clearance Office Cotonou-Benin
E-mail: richardken2011@yahoo.com
Phone: +229 98364899/+22997304465
Below is the transfer details which we sent to you today but it was placed on hold by the security office.
MTCN#: 185-916-3761
Sender: Chris Wright
Question: Best Color
Answer: Yellow
Amount: $6,000
You can check this on our website:
https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=BJ
The transfer is there but we are waiting for the security office to clear your name from the red flagged then we know there's no any other hindrance for you to receive the money. But you will be infrom that before your name will be removed from the red flagged it cost you only 55usd only.
PAYMENT INFORMATION (MONEY GRAM OR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER)
RECEIVERS NAME.........MGBECHI .A. MICHAEL
COUNTRY..............BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY..................COTONOU
QUESTION..............WHO MADE YOU?
ANSWER...................... GOD.
AMOUNT.....................$ 55USD
PAYMENT DETAILS TO SEND TO US
Money transfer control number (MTCN)
Senders Name
Senders address.
We look forward hearing from you once they have cleared out this issue so that we can be able to send you the second payment by tomorrow.
Chris Wright
________________________________________
PeoplePC Online
A better way to Internet
http://www.peoplepc.com
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Anti-fraud resources:
