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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. )
- "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. )
- "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.
- ambassadorusmailto@kimo.com (Kimo; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "James Knight." <terry_hedges@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: ambassadorusmailto@kimo.com
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2012 10:51:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: United States Ambassador to the Republic of Benin
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Greeting from U.S Embassy,
THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL
ADDRESS
Please i want to inform you that your fund was brought to
my desk this morning because that the director of the WESTERN UNION here in benin
republic said that they will divert your fund to the government treasuries
account just because that you refused to pay for the transfer fee
of your fund which is $75 but i told them to wait until i hear from you today
so that i will know the reason why you rejected such amount of money
$1.5millions which will change your life just because of $75
I want your urgent response as soon as you
receive this email and tell me the reason why you have abandon your
fund or if you don't need it then i can change your name to another
person or if you need it you better go any western union around you and
send the transfer fee with this information below so that their
government will not claim this money.
Please you should get back to me with the payment
information as soon as you receive this email to enable your funds transfer to
you.
1.RECEIVER NAME:______ MR, TONY OSITA
2.COUNTRY:____________ BENIN REPUBLIC .
3.CITY :________________
COTONOU.
4.TEST QUESTION:______ God
5.TEST ANSWER:_______
Bless
Sender's Name...........
Mtcn Number.............
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Knight_(Ambassador)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_Benin
Your Full name .....................
Your country and
city........................
Your home address
...........................
Your private phone
number.........................
Your age ........sex........ occupation
HON. JAMES KNIGHT.
US AMBASSADOR TO BENIN REPUBLIC.
EMAIL;(ambassadorusmailto@kimo.com)
MY PROFILE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Knight_(Ambassador)
I will wait for your urgent response
James Knight.
United States Ambassador to
the Republic of Benin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_Benin
Note: This email is officially from the United
States Ambassador to Benin Republic. The information contained in this message
is confidential and/or privileged.... This message is intended to be read only
by the person named above.. The unauthorized use,disclosure,copying or
alteration of this message is strictly prohibited. If you are not the addressee,
(or responsible for delivery of the message to the addressee), please notify the
originator by return message and destroy the original message. "Thank
you"
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Anti-fraud resources:
