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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.David Brown" <mini731031@yahoo.com.tw>
Reply-To: wunion780@yahoo.fr
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:16:24 +0800 (CST)
Subject: GOOD DAY TO YOU


 
Attention,
The Federal Government of BENIN REPUBLIC through provisions in Section 419 of the
Criminal Code came up with punitive measures to deter and punish
offenders.The Advance Fee Fraud section deal mainly with cases of advance
fee fraud(commonly called 419) such as obtaining by false pretence through
different fraudulent schemes e.g. contract scam, credit card scam,
inheritance scam, job scam, loan scam, lottery scam, “wash wash” scam (money
washing scam), marriage scam. Immigration scam, counterfeiting and religious
scam. It also investigates cyber crime cases.
This is to officially announce to you that some scam Syndicates were
apprehended in Parakou, Benin Republic few days ago and after several interrogations
and tortures your details were among those mentioned by some of the scam
Syndicates as one of the victims of their operations.
After proper investigations and research at Western Union Money Transfer and
Money Gram office to know if you have truly sent money to the scam
Syndicates through Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram, your name was
found in Western Union Money Transfer database amongst those that have sent
money through Western Union Money Transfer to BENIN REPUBLIC  and this proves that
you have truly been swindled by those unscrupulous persons by sending money
to them in the course of getting one fund or the other that is not real,
right now we are working hand in hand with Western Union and Interpol to
track every fraudsters down, do not respond to their e-mails, letters and
phone calls any longer they are scammers and you should be very careful to
avoid being a victim to fraudsters any longer because they have nothing to
offer you but to rip-off what you have worked hard to earn.
In this regard a meeting was held between the Board of Directors of The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and as a consequence of our
investigations it was agreed that the sum of Five hundred thousand US Dollars
(US$500,000) should be transferred to you out of the funds that Federal
Government of Benin Republic has set aside as a compensation to everyone who have
by one way or the other sent money to fraudsters in this country.

We have deposited your compensation funds at Western Union Money Transfer agent location
EMS Post office Cotonou for the release of your $500,000.00Usd to you.What you should do right now is to reconfirm your information to the western union agent together with your text question and answer so that they would know that you are the right person to receive the funds although like we did mention in the above message,We have given thme your information but it is very relevant that your reconfirm it to them.They stated that you have to pay them thier transfer charge which they said was $69Usd and they also stated that you would be receiving the sum of $10,000.00Usd per day but they will send it $5000usd twice which is $10,000usd.
Contact the western union office with the below information and ask them to give you the name where to send them their transfer charge.Below is their contact details,
 
Email:wunion780@yahoo.fr
Call them on phone via +229-989-148-72
 
Yours sincerely,
Mr.David Brown
***********************************************************************************************
Please note that some fraudsters are claiming to be Directors or staff of
The Ecomomic and Financial Crimes Commission and other institutions have recently been sending
phony e-mails/letters and also calling unsuspecting persons, with intent to
defraud them. It is important to note that these fraudsters are criminals
engaged in Advanced Fee Fraud known in Nigeria as 419. Every day, people
throughout the world are falling victim to scams of one kind or another. But
remember - if it sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam. In the
circumstance, we unreservedly advice you to dissociate yourselve from all
correspondence and transactions entered into based on evidently fraudulent
and fictitious claims.
**************************************************************************************************
"This e-Mail may contain proprietary and confidential information and is sent for the
intended recipient(s) only. If, by an addressing or transmission error, this mail has been
misdirected to you, you are requested to delete this mail immediately. You are also
hereby notified that any use, any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying,
disclosure, modification, distribution and/or publication of this e-mail message, contents
or its attachment(s), other than by its intended recipient(s), is strictly prohibited. Any
opinions expressed in this email are those of the individual and not necessarily of the
organization.
***************************************************************************************************

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