|
|
joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
|
|
"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. )
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- 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.
Fraud email example:
From: Western Union Money Transfer <tpd-ciechanow@neostrada.pl>
Reply-To: Martin.Bowrey@qatar.io
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:44:18 -0700
Subject: Funds
My associate has helped me to send your first payment
of $5000 USD to you as instructed by the Malaysian
Government and Mr. David Cameron the United Kingdom
prime minister after the last G20 meeting that was
held in Malaysia, making you one of the beneficiaries.
Here is the information below.
Senders First Name: poul
Senders Last Name: astrup
MTCN Number: 0058866817
I told him to keep sending you $5000 USD twice a week
until the FULL payment of ($820000.00 United State Dollars)
is completed.
The money is avaliable for pickup but you can not collect the funds
from the western union until the certificate made to change the Receivers
Nameto your name as stated by the Malaysian Government,reconfirm
your {1}Full Names {2}address {3}Mobile Number
via Email to:Martin.Bowrey@qatar.io Allan Davis
to proceed.
Note:
You cannot pickup the money until the certificate is
obtained by you.
For tracking of your funds vist www.westernunion.com
Regards
Mr. Martin Bowrey
Tel: +(60)163544376.
|
Anti-fraud resources:
