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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. )
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Rev. Dr. Raymond Paul" <danieljohnson_2001@yahoo.in>
Reply-To: westernunionmoneytransfer23@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2012 19:26:34 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: Attn:
Attn:
I confirmed the receipt of your e-mail today in my office regarding the first
payment that has been sent to you. Yes, it is true that you were sent a payment
of $5,000.00 according to an instruction from the ministry of finance
Cotonou-Benin Republic which indicates that we should be sending to you daily
payment of $5,000.00 everyday till we complete your total amount of $985.000.00.
But there is no means for me to reales the first payment without the requered
fee the only help i can render to you is i want you to tell me how much you can
come up with out of the $198.00usd so that i can halp you with the remaening balance of the fee that all i can do for you.
Regards
General Director Office western union
Thanks Rev. Dr. Raymond Paul
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Anti-fraud resources:
