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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:
- "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. )
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- "westernunion7766@ymail.com" (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: "Mrs.Patricia Apam" <officefile001653@vodafone.it>
Reply-To: westernunion7766@ymail.com
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:35:15 -0700
Subject: GOOD NEWS/ contact western union Mr.Terry Young
Dear Beneficiary,
Were the Western Union agent remittance office have sent your full
compensation payment of USD$1.2Million to you through western union online
and you will be receiving $8,000.00usd per day we will give your mtcn number
to you as soon as you fill the below information and each transfer will be
$4,000.00 so we will give you 2 difference number for the $8,000.00 per a
day.
So contact our director Mr.Terry Young. And ask him to give you the western
union payment information so that you can be able to pick up your funds
through western union without any problem and make sure you send your full
information to him so that he can complete the transfer to you without any
mistake on the transfer slip.
Here is the contact information of western union office.
Director General: Mr.Terry Young.
Email address: (westernunion7766@ymail.com)
Phone number: +229-975-15-176
Then contact him with your full information.
Receiver Full Name: __________
Country:_________________
City: ____________________
Test question: ___________
Answer: __________________
Telephone number: ________
Email and Call him now so that he can put your information on the transfer
slip and provide the western union payment details to you as urgent as you
can.
Thanks and gods bless you.
Mrs.Patricia Apam
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