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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:
- "moneygram" (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. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- moneygram212@yahoo.com.hk (Yahoo, Hong Kong; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "IBU ASHLEY" <ibuashley@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: moneygram212@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 13:37:51 -0400
Subject: Hello My Dear
Howare you today? Hope all is well with you. I am writing to inform youthat
the reason why you did not receive your $3.9M USD for a while isthat we lost
your contact and it was Friday morning last week that wefound your payment
form in our office and from there we got your emailaddress to reach you now.
Afterour last meeting held on Thurday 14th of may 2011 with FederalMinistry
of Finance concerning the matter, The Finance Minister giveorder to transfer
your fund through Money Gram money transfer $5000.002 times per day that
means you will be receiving $10,000.00 each dayuntil your payment is over.
Now,the fund was handed over to the Money Gram Office this morning to
starttransferring your fund immediately with immediate effect. Note that
youwill be receiving $10,000.00 each day and first payment of $5000.00will
come to you in the morning by 9:30 am while the last payment ofthe day will
come to you at 5: pm in evening.
Belowis the information to contact Money Gram office and you are advised
tocontact them immediately you receive this email and also reconfirm
yourinformation to them to enable them to release the necessary
informationfor you to receive your fund without making any mistake on it.
Mr Sam Adrew.
Email moneygram212@yahoo.com.hk
Contact them today because your first payment has been sent to you already
Thanks.
Dr Osita Timothy
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Anti-fraud resources:
