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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:
- "required fee " (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. )
- "huge amount of money" (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)
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: WESTERN UNION <pstjgreen@gmail.com>
Reply-To: western.union608@live.com
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:13:04 +0100 (BST)
Subject: YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS NEEDED
THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS:
How are you today? Please can you confirm this to us before we make a mistake, somebody called me today with this number 706-925-5615 saying that he is your brother, he said that you died since 3 days ago and before this happened you asked him to receive the funds on your behalf. He forwarded his address for us to send the MTCN# direct to him;
1121 Odena RD S
Sylacauga, AL - Alabama 35150
PH: 706-925-5615
But we are not sure about this. So that is why i am writing to know if this is true or not. Regarding the fee $67which you are supposed to send earlier, I tried letting him know of the required fee he said that i should give him information to send the $67so that we can update the payments then send the mtcn numbers to him since you are not alive again.
Please this fund is not something we could just make any silly mistake or sending it to the wrong person because the money is huge amount of money $950,000.00. So this man is getting us confusing on what he is saying.
I am sending this mail to you to find out the truth before i make any mistake. I told the man to give me 2days to think about it. The man said that his name is Mr. Larry Phillips he is from Alabama. So am sending this message to confirm the truth but if i don't hear from anyone in the next 2days i will collect the $67from him and hand over everything to him.
You are advice to reconfirm the following info;
1. FULL NAME:
2. COUNTRY:
3. CITY:
4. YOUR HOME ADDRESS:
5. TELEPHONE NUMBER:
* Acceptable forms of identification include any of the following:
* International Passports
* Drivers License
* State Identity Cards.
Awaiting an urgent respond.
Mr.uba chinaka
Tel: (+229) 6 8 1 4 7 6 3 2
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Anti-fraud resources:
