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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. )
- "wupay@w.cn" (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 FRED IBEE <fredibe87888@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: wupay@w.cn
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:28:20 +0200
Subject: Call The Western Union For Your Funds +229-99-571-490
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Attention,
Your winning Price of Eight hundred and fifty thousand usd ($850,000)has been
forwarded to Western Union for immediate transfer to you as soon as you meet up
with the demands of the transfer charge of $199 usd.
Bear it in mind that this transfer charge might be the only delay to the
transfer because with your name in the payment slip of the western union where
you sent the fee will be the same name they are going to use in transfering the
funds to you immediately they recieve the transfer charge.
So the below information is the information on how this fee will be sent to them
as soon as you recieve this email today.
RECEIVER NAME ....CHRISTOPHER ONYEJEKWE
CITY............PORTONOVO
COUNTRY.......REPUBLIQUE DU BENIN
TEXT QUESTION......WHEN
ANSWER TEXT .........TODAY
AMOUNT ...............$199 USD
Contact: Mr Mark John Director General western union payment office Benin
Republic call him as soon as you recieve this email so that he will start
transfering your funds with out any delay Tel: +229-99-571-490 Email:
( wupay@w.cn )Send to him your correct contact information such as Your,
Your Full Name------------
Your Address-----------
Home telephone------------
Office telephone--------------
NOTE; This payment was directed to be made available in your name so send to him
a copy of the payment slip or you can email him with the MTCN and the senders
name including your country name contact him now as soon as possble so that you
can start picking up your funds with the information he will give to you as
soon as you call him, and bear it in mind that you will only pay for the
transfer charge and dont be decieved by any body to pay more fee.
Yours in Service,
MRS FRED IBEE
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