419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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:

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. )
- "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. )
- "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)
- "info-westernuniongoldcard01@yandex.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: Western Union Pay-out Gold card <info-westernuniongoldcard01@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2013 12:42:58 +0100
Subject: Your GOLD CARD is right now at USA & was stop by the custom office
there in USA.

*

Attention Please .

Thank you for accepting my email , We have gone to the Fedex service
and send you your GOLD CARD, and now your GOLD CARD is right now at USA &
was stop by the custom office there in USA, Please they are requesting for
TAG & STAMP are Normally Obtained benin republic Before The Delivery will
be release to your destination address by today once you reconfirm us your
full details again.

We have To Obtain The TAG & STAMP In BENIN REPUBLIC & send Them to The USA
for the final release of your GOLD CARD. Please note that your tracking
details are: HF258452854214US. Due to the stop at USA, you can not track it
now till you send the requested fee of $55(US$), to get you the TAG & STAMP
In BENIN before you can track it and confirm it.

Please you have to understand that you have to send the $55(US$) with the
Name : Ogechukwu Omokwe, I have to reconfirm it to you again. You have to
send te fee by Western union or money Gram only: Payment should be made via
Western union Or Money Gram only with the name below:

Senders Name:----
Recivers name:---- Ogechukwu Omokwe
Country:--- Benin Republic
City:-- Cotonou
Text Question.----What color??
Answer ---Yellow
MTCN:--------
Amount:--$55(US$)

Please as soon as you send the money, Please do send us the MTCN, or Please
call me or i will call you this morning once you reconfirm me your direct
telephone number/ full details home address or your work address again, so
that there will be no erro so that we can finishup every things by today
without any further delay again. Please try all you can to send this fee by
today so that we can get all the require documents by today.

Waiting to hear from you soon.

And let us know my conformation the MTCN.

Thank you as I wait your respond.
Ganesh Amoorthy.
Contact us at info-westernuniongoldcard01@yandex.com
Western Union BENIN - COTONOU.
*

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam