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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:

Fraud email example:

From: MR Gabriel Nwaofia <wgfsdghdfsgh@att.net>
Reply-To: westernunionmoney0@yahoo.fr
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 23:34:30 -0800 (PST)
Subject: FUND TRANSFER OF $5,000:00 USD





 
FUND TRANSFER OF $5,000:00 USD

INFORMATION REACHING US FROM OUR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS NOW, STATES THAT YOU ONLY HAVE 48HOURS TO EFFECT PAYMENT FOR THE ACTIVATION OF YOUR MTCN TO ENABLE YOU CASH UP YOUR FIRST US$5,000.00 FROM YOUR TOTAL (FUND) OF $50 MILLION USD, SINCE YOU ARE FINDING IT DIFFICULT TO MAKE THIS PAYMENT BEFORE DUE TO HIGH COST OF THE ACTIVATION FEE BUT  WE HAVE DECIDED THAT YOU ARE TO GO AHEAD AND PAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE FOR THE ACTIVATION FEE SINCE YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO COME UP WITH THE REQUIRED SUM , PLEASE BE FAST BECAUSE TIME IS NOT BY OUR SIDE ANY MORE.

YOU ARE TO PAY WHAT EVER YOU HAVE FOR THE ACTIVATION FEE; WE WILL ACTIVATE YOUR MTCN UPON RECEIPT OF THIS PAYMENT.

BE INFORMED THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY THE BALANCE SUM OF YOUR ACTIVATION UPON CASHING UP OF YOUR FIRST  US$5,000.00, ALSO I AM USING THIS MEDIUM TO INFORM YOU THAT FAILURE TO PAY THE BALANCE SUM WILL LEAVE US WITH NO OPTION BUT TO DEACTIVATE YOUR MTCN OF WHICH YOU WILL AND CAN NEVER CASH UP ALL YOUR TOTAL FUND, I WANT YOU TO SEND FEE WITH THIS INFORMATION THROUGH MONEY UNION.

1.RECEIVER NAME:.............Mr Onyekwe John
2.COUNTRY:............. BENIN REPUBLIC .
3.CITY :............... COTONOU .
4..TEST QUESTION:....VERY
5.TEST ANSWER:......URGENT.
6.AMOUNT ..........
7,SENDER’S  NAME………….
8,MTCN......

SEND US THE MTCN NUMBER IMMEDIATELY YOU SEND THE MONEY AND IMMEDIATELY WE CONFIRM THE FEE WE WILL SEND YOU THE FIRST RECIEPT OF YOUR US$5,000.00  TODAY AND NOT TOMORROW
SO CONTACT THIS EMAIL (westernunionmoney0@yahoo.fr ) 
MY DIRECT PHONE LINE IS +229_99866721  FROM WESTERN UNION OFFICE BENIN REPUBLIC FOR YOUR PAYMENT 

MR Gabriel Nwaofia
OPRATION MANAGER.
MONEY UNION DEPARTMENT

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