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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:
- "security keeping 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. )
- "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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "deadline" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "lagos" (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 mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "ROBERT S. MUELLER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <yiwu3di@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2012 15:45:55 -0600
Subject: Reconfirm Your Delivery Address
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) SENIOR DEPARTMENT DESK OF ROBERT S. MUELLER
2012 Your Email was chosen as a Winner in the 2012 Online United Nation World Lottery Held in Nigeria and i want you to reconfirm your delivery address to avoid delivery error.
FedEx Next Day Express update me today that your package have stay long than what they expected and they want you to show some seriousness to enable the package shipped to you.
Claim your package the year is coming to an end and it will be return and marked as unclaimed once the deadline reaches.
You need to know that this package is very important and the total amount the MasterCard Credit Card contain is $20 Million usd and your daily limit withdraw is $15,000 per day program by the International Credit system.
The security keeping fee is $99 and this is the last and only fee required from you if any other fee occurs i will make sure FedEx return the money you have sent previously so you have nothing to worry about.
ONCE YOUR PACKAGE IS SHIPPED AND YOU RECEIVE IT YOU CAN START TO MAKE TRANSACTION/WITHDRAW FROM ANY ATM SYSTEM. HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND
I assure you that i will make sure shipment commence once the charge fee is paid use the Information to send the charge fee to the FedEx Agent in charge of the Delivery.
SEND THE REQUIRED CHARGE FEE AND GET THE PACKAGE DELIVERED WITHIN 24 HOURS VIA NET EXPRESS FEDEX DELIVERY.
Send Payment via Western Union or Money Gram Money Transfer within the next 24 hours once you receive this email.
Receiver Name: Dr. Mario O. Daniel
Address: 43 Shipping service street
City: Lagos State: Lagos
Country: Nigeria
Zip-code: 23401
Text Question: Good
Answer: Year
Amount: $99
NOTE: THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOUR MASTERCARD CONTAIN IS $20 MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST UP TILL DATE. YOUR DAILY LIMIT WITHDRAW IS $15,000 PER DAY.
Have a wonderful day and remember all you need to send is $99 only to complete everything.
ROBERT S. MUELLER
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC.
J. Edgar Hoover Building 935
Pennsylvania Avenue,NW Washington,
D.C.20535-0001, USA
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Anti-fraud resources:
