joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
  • "insurance 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 ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "clearance certificate" (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 ever send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally. )
  • "waiting for your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
  • "@diplomats.com" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
  • "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
  • "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
  • "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
• This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
  
• 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.
  • maxdeliverycourierservic@diplomats.com

Fraud email example:

From: "Jeniffer Ankoh" <jenifferankoh10@email.bg>
Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2008 09:49:53 +0200
Subject: Greetings to you & your Family.




CONTACT MAX DELIVERY COURIER SERVICE(HILL &amp; COUNSELORS AT LAW)06 BP 1409
AKPAKPA DODOMEYCOTONOU REPUBLIC OF BENIN.




Dear Friend,




Greetings to you &amp; your Family.




I have been waiting for you since to contact me for your
Confirmable&nbsp;&nbsp; Bank Draft of ($1.2m) United States Dollars, but I did
not hear from you&nbsp;&nbsp; since that time ,Then I went and deposited the
Draft with MAX&nbsp; DELIVERY&nbsp; COURIER SERVICE ,Cotonou, Benin Republic
before I travelled out of&nbsp; the&nbsp; country for a short Course and i
will not come back till end of next&nbsp; Month.What you have to do now is to
contact the MAX DELIVERY COURIER SERVICE as soon as possible to know when they
will deliver your package to you because of the expiring date.




For your information, I have paid for the delivering Charges, Insurance fee
and Clearance Certificate Fee of the Cheque showing that it is not&nbsp; a
Drug Money nor to sponsor Terrorist attack in your Country,The only&nbsp;
money you will send to the Courier &amp; Security Company to deliver
your&nbsp; Draft direct to your postal Address in your country is ($95) only
being&nbsp; their Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far.




Again, Don't deceive by anybody to pay any other money except $95.00,I would
have paid that but they said no because they don't know when you&nbsp; will
contact them and in case of demurrage.You have to contact the Max&nbsp;
Delivery courier Service Company now for the delivery of your Draft with this
information bellow.




Director Max Delivery Courier Company Benin&nbsp; Republic. E-mail:
(maxdeliverycourierservic@diplomats.com)Registration No; Eg2272Code
Number::01721457




Finally, make sure that you reconfirm your Postal address and Direct telephone
number to them again to avoid any mistake on the Delivery and Let me repeat
again,try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail&nbsp; to avoid any
further delay and remember to pay them their Security Keeping fee of $95 for
their immediate action.You should also Let me know&nbsp; through email as soon
as you receive your Draft.




Note. The MAX DELIVERY COURIER SERVICE don't know the contents of the Box. I
registered it as a Box of an Africa cloths. They don't know it contents money.
this is to avoid them delaying with the Box. don't let them know what is
contains.I am waiting for your urgent response.&nbsp;&nbsp;Yours
Faithfully,Jeniffer&nbsp; Ankoh.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam