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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. )
- "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. )
- 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: DIAMOND BANK <vin_john777@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: diamondbaank@w.cn
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 10:46:16 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WELCOM TO DIAMOND BANK
MOTTO WE TRANSFER BUT GOD IS OUR POWER.
THIS MESSAGE IS MADE TO BE READ BY
THE ONLY THE OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT WHERE THIS BANK ARE GOING TO TRANSFER
THE MONEY.NOW BE INFORMED THAT THE MONEY WHICH IS DEPOSITED HERE BY YOUR
NAME.
Attention My Dear;,
Please i want to inform you that
everything concern your money in this bank is legal because the person
that deposit the money mention all your name before this bank sent you
an email so try to comply over this issued and note that the only fee
you will send to this bank is our wire transfer fee which is only
$35.00only so that this bank will transfer your money directly into your
bank account at your country so try to send the wire transfer fee and
forward us your bank details where to transfer your money and also your
current telephone number OK.
1... YOUR FULL NAME.........................
2....YOUR COUNTRY....................................
3....NAME OF BANK....................
4....YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER.........................
5....ADDRESS.....................
6....CURRENT TELEPHONE NUMBER........................
7....OCCUPATION.................................
8.....AGE........
9.....SEX.............
BANK E. MAIL(diamondbaank@w.cn)
THIS IS INFORMATION YOU CAN USE TO SEND THE MONEY AFTER THROUGH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.
COUNTRY IS BENIN REPUBLIC.
SENDER NAME..............
RECEIVER NAME........... MARCEL IKELI
AMOUNT IS $35.00. USA DOLLARS
MTCN...........................
TEST QUESTION .............WHO IS CREATOR
ANSWER ...........GOD
DIAMOND BANK DIRECTOR DR.HON.MR TONY HUBERT
TONY HUBERT
TONY HUBERT
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Anti-fraud resources:
