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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. )
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
- 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: "Rev.Andy Williams" <officefils6---9807@att.net>
Reply-To: blacklistheadofficeb@globomail.com
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:53:09 -0800 (PST)
Subject: CONTACT BLACK LIST OFFICE IMMEDIATELY
Dear Beneficiary,
How are you doing today, my name is Rev.Andy Williams, I am the new Director of western union Benin Republic West African, and I just saw your file in our office this morning and i notice that you have 2.5 Million United States Dollars Here In Our Western Union Department that it supposed to be transfer to you but due-to the cost and the Interpol investigation demanded from you that is the reason why the formal director could not be able to complete the transfer for you.
So I was searching Through your file online and I was notified that your name was blacklisted in Africa that you cannot receive any payment from Africa if they did not remove your name on the blacklist so that is the reason you were not able to receive your fund even after paying your fees that your supposed to pay, and the Director of Black list office told me that you cannot receive any payment from African even western union or bank or money gram if they do not remove your name in their list.
And he told me that once they remove your name in the Africa black list that you will start receiving your money from African so all you have to do now is to contact the black list head office with their details below so that they can have your name remove in there list and once they told you that they have remove your name in there list you get back to us so that we can start sending your payment to you and give your mtcn to you ok.
Here is there contact information as below.
BLACK LIST OFFICE
Dr.John Ali
E-mail (blacklistheadofficeb@globomail.com)
Phone: +229-98247084
So contact them as soon as possible with there above information so that they can remove your name in there list once they do this you get back to us so that we can start transferring your total fund $2.5 to you immediately ok
Endeavor to also send them your full contact information so to avoid any mistake in removing your name from their black list and remember this email is in respect of our telephone conversation 5 hours ago
Regards
Rev.Andy Williams
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