419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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. )
- "bank charges " (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. )
- "transfer of your funds" (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)
- "hundred thousand 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)
- "00,000.00" (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)
- "fund beneficiary" (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)
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
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.
- +447045721208 (UK, redirects to a mobile phone in another country)

Fraud email example:

From: "CHARLES STANLEY ESQ" <store3@fourhgroup.com>
Reply-To: chrlsstanley907@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:05:42 +0600 (BDT)
Subject: Dear Fund Beneficiary (YOU HAVE ONE WEEK DEADLINE TO TRANSFER YOUR
FUNDS)

--

Dear Fund Beneficiary,

This is in regard to your email, You will recall in line with the
extension of the initial deadline date for the claims of your funds by the
British High Court of Justice, You only have till of 3rd of April 2011, to
pay for the account activation fee so the transferring bank can have your
funds transferred to your account. I will advise that you try your utmost
best to pay the bank activation fee as that is currently the only way you
will have your funds transferred to your account to avoid having the funds
confiscated by the British High court. I really cant imagine that raising
the fee for the account activation charges is a problem for you,
considering the amount of money that you stand to get as the 40% that was
willed to you is a whole lot of money that i think you shouldnt forfeit
for any reason whatsoever.

It is on this note i advise that you pay the bank charges as soon as
possible to enable the bank to immediately commence the transfer of the
funds to your account via swift online bank transfer. It was the desire of
Graham Robert that the charity work commences without further delay. The
transferring bank has informed me that the account set up will soon
commence, they however advised that you should try and make the payment
for the account activation fee which is amounted to ($ 1,116 USD).

They have advised that you effect the payment via the below payment
information to enable the speedy process of the transfer of the funds
US$155,600,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Five million Six Hundred thousand
United States Dollars) to your account. You are to locate a western union
money transfer agent and make the payment as soon as possible.

Below is the information that you are expected to make the payment via:

MODE OF PAYMENT: WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

ACCOUNT OFFICER: MIRIAM COUSON
ADDRESS: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.

You are to send the payment details to me via email as soon as you make
the payment, so I can document it and in turn send it to the transferring
bank to enable them effect the transfer of your funds to your account
without further delay. I will be awaiting your immediate reply in this
regard.

Have a nice day
Charles Stanley
+447045721208

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam