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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:
- "activation 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 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. )
- "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. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "western.union210@ufo.tc" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Western union.com" <mckay.alan@att.net>
Reply-To: western.union210@ufo.tc
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 17:48:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Western_Union=AE?=
P {MARGIN:0px;}UL {MARGIN-TOP:5px;MARGIN-BOTTOM:5px;}OL {MARGIN-TOP:5px;MARGIN-BOTTOM:5px;}Attn: Beneficiary, Be informed that your part-payment of (US$500.000.00) from International Monetary Fund Unit (IMF) has been approved & we were advised by the IMF to affect the transfer to you through Western Union Money Transfer to avoid loosing it. Although the sum of USD$5000.00 has been sent already to your name but unable to pick up by the receiver due to we have to Activate your Payment Files with amount of USD$89.00 to enable you pick it up. The information for you to pick up your fund after Activating your Payment files is as follow: MTCN____________ #828-321-4437
Sender Name_______Frank O. Ben
Text Question_______To Who?
Answer____________You
Amount____________USD$5,000.00 And here is also the name & address you can use to send the Activation Fee of USD$89.00 through Western Union: Receiver Name: Mr. Christopher OkaforLocation: Benin Republic/ City: CotonouText Question/ Answer: (Amount: $89.00)Sender's Name: MTCN Number# Be also advised that upon confirmation of the Activation Fee, we will be able to activate your payment files and get back to you within 40minutes with notification that you are able to confirm your USD$5000.00. Waiting to hear from you via email: western.union210@ufo.tc or call at +229 9794 8648. Best regards,
Mr. Morris Uba
Western Union®
Send Money Worldwide
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