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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:

Fraud email example:

From: WESTERN UNION <mrshelenobalaku@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: moneytransferworldwide@w.cn
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 14:26:40 +0100 (BST)
Subject: PICK UP YOUR PAYMENT USD$2.5M WITH WESTERN UNION




ATTN BENEFICIARY,

WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO SEND YOUR FUND TO YOUR ADDRESS IN YOUR CITY FROM THE FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BENIN STATING THAT THE FUND IS YOUR INHERITANCE MONEY.YOU WILL BE RECEIVING YOUR FUND ( $5,000 U.S.D ) PER DAY STARTING FROM TOMORROW AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE TOTAL SUM OF (USD$2.5M) THROUGH OUR OFFICE  WESTERN UNION DEPARTMENT WITHOUT ANY HITCH.

I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INFORM YOU THAT GOVERNMENT IS PLANING TO CANCELS YOUR WINNER FUNDS AND TRANSFER IT INTO BENIN GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTS DUE TO THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE FAILED TO CONTACT US WITH OUR REQUEST AND CLAIM YOUR FUND WITHOUT ANY HITCH OR DELAY.

YOU ARE REQUIRE TO SEND US OUR TRANSFERRING CHARGE/RECONFIRMATION OF FILE CHARGES (R.O.F.C) THE SUM OF $89 USD TO ENABLE US RECONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT FILE FROM THE DESK OF THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE BENIN AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND WITHOUT ANY HITCH WE ARE NOT LIBERTY TO DEDUCT THE FUND SINCE YOUR FUND IS IN ESCROW SUSPEND ACCOUNT, MEANWHILE SEND THE $89 USD TO US IMMEDIATELY SO THAT YOU CAN BE ABLE TO PICK UP YOUR FIRST PAYMENT FREELY FROM ANY OF OUR CORRESPONDENT WESTERN UNION OFFICE IN YOUR STATE WITH THE INFORMATION BELOW.

THE MONEY HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED CORRECTLY TO YOUR ADDRESS WE WILL MAIL YOU THE PAYMENT INFORMATIONS YOU NEED TO PICK UP YOUR MONEY IN ANY WESTERN UNION AROUND YOU CORRECTLY BUT YOU CAN NOT BE ABLE TO PICK THE FUND UNTIL YOUR PAYMENT FILE IS BEEN RECONFIRMED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF BENIN AFTER YOU HAVE PAID THE REQUIRED $89 USD.

WHY WE NEED YOU TO SEND US THE $89 USD IS THAT WE TRIED TO DEDUCT THE FEE OUT FROM YOUR FUND BUT THE MINISTER ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUND OF BENIN REPUBLIC TOLD US THAT NO ONE HAS RIGHT OVER YOUR FUND AS IT HAVE BEEN SIGNED AND STAMPED THAT NO MONEY SHOULD BE DEDUCTED UNTIL IT GETS TO YOUR HANDS FOR SECURITY PURPOSE.

SO IF YOU WANT TO TRACK THE MONEY AND CONFIRM IF THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERRED ENTER OUR WEBSITE WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM
THEN CLICK TRACKING AND ENTER THE MTCN NUMBER… 156-379-2609 ENTER SENDERS FIRST NAME…CHINEDU.... ENTER SENDERS LAST NAME.. CHUKWUMA AND CLICK TRACKING AND IT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOUR FUNDS IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PICK IT UP..

SENDER FIRST NAME::::::::::::::::::: JOHN
MTCN::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 344-306-3556
TEXT QUESTION::::::::::::::::::::::HONEST?
TEXT ANSWER:::::::::::::::::::::::TRUST.
AMOUNT:::::::::              $5,000.00 USD
 
 
FINALLY URGENT IN SENDING US THE $89 USD TO ENABLE US PROCEED ON RECONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT FILE FROM THE OFFICE IN CHARGE .SEND THE FEE DIRECTLY WITH MY NAME AS OUTLINE BELOW USE IT TO SEND THE MONEY VIA WESTERN UNION TO ENABLE US PICK IT FROM OUR DEPARTMENT HERE AND RECONFIRM YOUR PAYMENT FILE APPROVAL FROM THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND COMMERCE YOUR DAILY PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY.
 
RECEIVER NAME,,,,MR.  JOSEPH ANEKWE
COUNTRY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,COTONOU
TEXT QUESTION,,,,,,,,,,HONEST?
TEXT ANSWER,,,,,,,,,,,,TRUST.
AMOUNT,,,,,,,,$89 USD ONLY.
 
YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED .WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TO QUICKEN THE PROCESS.VIEW ATTACHMENT YOU WILL SEE MY ID CARD ATTACHED TO THE EMAIL.
 
 
YOURS IN SERVICE
MR. JOSEPH ANEKWE
WESTERN UNION BENIN
REPUBLIC MANAGER
MAIL ID: moneytransferworldwide@w.cn
Tel:  +229-987-682-08
Fax:    +229-887-82-00
 
WESTERN UNION® WELCOME TO WESTERN UNION SEND MONEY WORLDWIDE
 
 
..............................................................................................................................................
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
 
THIS E-MAIL, INCLUDING ANY ATTACHMENTS,CONTAINS INFORMATION FROM MR. JOSEPH ANEKWE, WESTERN UNION BENIN REPUBLIC MANAGER GROUP, INC, WHICH MAY BE CONFIDENTIAL OR PRIVILEGED. THE INFORMATION IS INTENDED TO BE FOR THE USE OF THE INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY NAMED ABOVE. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, BE AWARE THAT ANY DISCLOSURE, COPYING, DISTRIBUTION OR USE OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS INFORMATION IS PROHIBITED. IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY BY "REPLY TO SENDER ONLY" MESSAGE AND DESTROY ALL ELECTRONIC AND HARD COPIES OF THE COMMUNICATION, INCLUDING ATTACHMENTS.
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