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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "affidavit of claim" (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. )
- "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. )
- "affidavit " (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "foreign payment department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "international remittance department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- "central bank of nigeria" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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 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.
- imfimf55@yahoo.com.ph (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Central bank of Nigeria and benin republic <cnigeriaandbeninrepublic@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:37:49 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: HEAD FOREIGN PAYMENT DEPARTMENT CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA AND BENIN REPUBLIC
HEAD FOREIGN PAYMENT DEPARTMENT
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIAAND BENIN REPUBLIC
INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT
Federal Ministry Of Finance,Abuja-Nigeria
Our Ref-CBN/BD/PEMU/FGN/MIN/04-09
Compensation Beneficiary,
OUTCOME OF MEETING BETWEEN CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA AND BENIN REPUBLIC WEST AFRICA (CBN)AND THE
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND(IMF)
The Central Bank of Nigeria Benin Republic in Conjunction With the International MonetaryFund (IMF is given out a compensation to victims of scam perpetrated byNigeria scammers. in a board meeting held yesterday, your email address was nominated as one of the beneficiaries of this compensation scheme.
your email address was selected as one of the 100 recipients to receive a
compensation of Ten million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollar as the first
face of compensation beneficiaries. this project is inline with the CBN
and IMF joint mandate to compensate victims of scam who have lost a lot of
money to scammers in Nigeria and Benin Republic.
for the release of your compensation funds, you will be required to
provide the following details to us immediately for the transfer of your
compensation funds to your home bank account
Name:
telephone Number:
Account Number:
Name of Bank:
Address of Bank:
Swift or Sort Code if any:
Country/State
Occupation/Age,sex:
Drivers license/Int Passport:
Your Compensation funds will be weird directly into your account once we
receive these details Also you will be required to obtain an affidavit of
claims which will be sent to the transferring bank that will transfer
your funds to you. the affidavit is necessary to prevent you from paying
any other form of handling charges like taxes or for other transfer
certificates the affidavit will cost you $55 and you are to make the
payment to our account department via western union to speed up the
process.
you are to make the payment of $55 to the officer in charge with details
below
RECEIVER'S NAME: MR.BENJAMINE NWAEKWU
ADDRESS:Benin Republic City Cotonou
TEXT QUESTION: ACT
ANSWER: FAST
AMOUNT: $55 USD
Amount:$55;SendersName:..?;MTCN Number:....?
You are to send the details of your account above and along side the
payment details of the western union payment of $55 to us immediately so
we can proceed with the transfer of your compensation funds. Once we
receive your details, we will obtain the affidavit at once and proceed
with the transfer of one million USA dollars to your account immediately.
you are to provide these details so we can proceed.
Contact email:imfimf55@yahoo.com.ph
Mr Lamido SANUSI
Central Bank Of Nigeria and Benin Republic West Africa Governor.
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Anti-fraud resources:
