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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:
- "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 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. )
- "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. )
- "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 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. )
- "we advice you" (this email uses bad English)
- "lagos" (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: United-nation-services-us <highonamountain@sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: dgsergiunnation@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 21:28:05 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Help Has Finally come Your Way.
UNITED NATIONS FUNDS CLEARANCE AUTHORITY
INTERNATIONALCLEARANCE & CERTIFICATION DEPT.
CHAIRMAN; United Nations Funds Clearance Authority (UNFCA).
TODAY BEEN THE 3RD OF JUNE WE ADVISED OUR SECRETARY TO CROSS CHECK IN OUR SYSTEM TO ENSURE THAT ALL CLIENTS HAVE BEEN PAID BUT TO OUR SHOCKING SURPRISE YOUR PAYMENT FILE IS STILL INDICATING UN-PAID, WHY IS IT SO?
NEVERTHELESS, IT WILL INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT ON OUR FINDINGS AS REGARDS YOUR UN-PAID LEGAL OWED FUND AN EMERGENCY MEETING WAS CALLED UP.
TO THIS EFFECT A MEETING WAS HELD IMMEDIATELY BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ON YOUR BEHALF WHICH WAS DECIDED IN YOUR OWN FAVOR AND BEST INTEREST TO REDUCE THE PAYMENT FOR THE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE TO $65 SO THAT YOU CAN MEET UP WITH THE PAYMENT PLEASE YOU ARE GIVEN ONLY 48HOURS TO DO THIS PAYMENT SO WE CAN RELEASE YOUR $15.5M US IN OUR CARE.
SO WE ADVICE YOU TO PAY THE $65 THROUGH THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OR MONEY GRAM MONEY TRANSFER TO THE BELOW INFORMATION AND SEND THE PAYMENT DETAILS TO ME
RECEIVERS NAME: VICTOR HARRY
SENDERS NAME:
SENDERS ADDRESS
TEXT QUESTION: YOUR
TEXT ANSWER: FAVOR
AMOUNT: $65
STATE: LAGOS STATE
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
REFERENCE NUMBER:
PLEASE GO AND SEND IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEND TO ME THE PAYMENT DETAILS IMMEDIATELY.
OUR LOYALTY IS TO SERVE YOU ACCORDINGLY AND TO GIVE YOU THE BEST SERVICE NOTHING BUT THE BEST.
RESPOND NOW IN OTHER TO FACILITATE THE SPEEDY PAYMENT TRANSFER OF YOUR $15.5 MILLION TO ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE.
MR. SERGEI ORDZONIKIDZE.
UNITED NATIONAL FINANCIAL REGULATIONS FORUM.United Nations (U.N.F.C.A)
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Anti-fraud resources:
