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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: Transfer Investigation Office <transferinvestigationoffice@yahoo.cn>
Reply-To: westernuniontransfer2012@kimo.com
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:59:00 +0800 (CST)
Subject: The investigation of your fund has being completed.








Attention: Customer

Please be informed
that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has completed an Investigation on the
money transfer issue in which you presently have with your present transaction
agents.Your transaction has already been paid out to the Internal Revenue
Service of Nigeria whom have presently placed an hold on your transaction due to
failure to pay the Nigeria Government tax clearance for your
funds.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the real amount
of your money is $800,000 US Dollars and it has been dispatched to the Nigeria
Western Union Head Office Foreign Operations Manager "Mr.Jim Balogun" whom is
presently in-charge of your transaction. It has been designated that the sum of
$8,000 be paid to you daily using Western Union Money Transfer, therefore your
funds is presently with Western Union and has been placed on
hold.

Presently, the funds are in the Western Union system and once you
have paid the Nigeria Tax Clearance in the amount of $178, your funds will NOT
be released.You are required to pay the sum of $178 to the Foreign Operations
Manager whom shall deposit to the Nigeria Tax system directly and once this has
been completed, the money will then be changed into your name and released for
pay-out immediately.

In order to prove that your funds are in the Western
Union system, I would require that you go to their website via
"http://www.westernunion.com" and then click on the "Check Transfer" or
"Transfer Status", you will then be required to enter the MTCN control number as
well as the Sender's Name. Kindly enter the following information
below:

SENDER'S FIRST NAME: JOHN
SENDER'S LAST NAME:
FRANK
MTCN------007-20-14-064
Amount:--- $8,000 USD

You CANNOT pick
up the funds as of yet because the payment was NOT sent to your name but an
anonymous name, once you have paid the required $178 for the Nigeria Tax
Clearance, the money will be released after 12 hours and shall be made payable
to you. Please note that this is the ONLY required fee needed to complete your
transaction,therefore you are required to immediately proceed to a Western Union
Money Transfer outlet and then request to send $178 to the following information
below:

RECEIVER;--------MORBA INNOCENT
COUNTRY.---------LAGOS
NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION:---WHAT
FOR?
ANSWER:----------RELEASE
AMOUNT;----------$178

Once you have
completed the Western Union transaction, you will be required to call or send
Mr. Ben  an e-mail; with the following information below:

SENDER'S FIRST
NAME:
SENDER'S LAST NAME:
10 DIGIT MTCN CONTROL NUMBER GIVEN ON
RECEIPT:
SENDER'S PHONE NUMBER:

Please send the above requested
information to the following information below:

CONTACT NAME: MR.JIM
BALOGUN
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER: +234 7068 583 413
E-MAIL ADDRESS:westernuniontransfer2012@kimo.com

If you are able to send
the $178 IMMEDIATELY, the receiver's name on the money transfer will be changed
into your name and immediately be ordered for release in ONLY 12 hours.
Therefore, kindly proceed towards completing your transaction and send Mr.Jim
Balogun with required information.

Regards,
Mr.James
Peterson,
Foreign Transfer Investigations.





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