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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.
- 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:
- "stamp duty" (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. )
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- 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.
- western_ubb@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: WESTERN UNION DEP <membershipsdirector@gmail.com>
Reply-To: western_ub@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 04:45:34 +1200 (NZST)
Subject: RE:GOOD NEWS ABOUT YOUR PAYMENT
WELCOME TO ECOBANK PLCÂ WESTERN UNION MONEY
TRANSFERÂ BENIN
REP.
Attention,
I
want to inform you that I spoke with the person in charge of the transaction and
she informed me that orders were passed down to hold-on sending you payments as
instructed because your file shows that you have not paid the Bond Stamp
Duty Fee which is only US$97. As soon as we receive this
US$97. from you for the Bond Stamp Duty Fee, i will send your
 and there will be no problem at all with picking the
fund.
You can go
ahead and send the US$97. for the Bond Stamp Duty Fee today and get back to me
with the payment information through western union so that your fund will be
remmitted to you,
Send the money and let me know so
that we can send you the first US$6,000 at once. Note that without the required
certificate we will not be able to send the monies to you so go ahead and send
the fee for the certificate to enable this office update your file and start
sending your funds to you until your total fund in the amount of (
USD800,000.00) has been
sent to you.
Â
https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=global
Â
MTCN: 8222623510
amount.7000.00
Sender’s first name: Ozekwe
Sender's last name:
Lawrence
Test Question: What
Answer: Who
Â
and this information to send to send our transfer
charages which is 97 dollars
Receiver's name:Â
Sam Chika
Country: Benin
republic
City: contonou
Text question: GOD IS
Answer:
GOOD
Amount: $97 .00
Sender's name:
1.
Full Names…………………
2. Contact Address………………
3.
Telephone Number…………… Â
4.
Fax Number……………………
5. Occupation……………………
6.
Country.....................................
Kindly fill details in the attachment above for your
payment claim and contact your agent immediately
Dr Jerry King
Senior Vice President, Benin &Â CIS
western union money transfer
®
Email:Â western_ubb@yahoo.fr
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Anti-fraud resources:
