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:

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:
- "insurance 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. )
- "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. )
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: "Mr. James Morgan" <diplomaticcourierservice011@gmail.com>
Reply-To: upsdeliverytn02@live.com
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 16:24:56 +0100
Subject: SIR/MADAM TREAT AS URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICER IN CHARGE UPS
Delivery Company Tennessee USA.

THE OFFICER IN CHARGE UPS
Delivery Company Tennessee USA

Greetings,

My Name is Mr. James Morgan, the office in charge UPS Delivery Express
services here in Tennessee USA. This is to inform you that we have received
a package containing an ATM card from Mr.Ben s. Bernanke the chairman
federal reserve board new york and we have been instructed to deliver the
package to you without any further delay.

Meanwhile i am very happy to let you know that the delivery fee of your
package has been paid by the Bank Federal Reserve Board New York City NY
Branch were your fund was approved so you don't have to pay for any
delivery fee again, the only thing remaining right now is the insurance
Coverage fee of your package which you are to settle before your package
will be delivered to you.

Note that we can not take the risk of delivering your package to you
without insuring it because we can not afford to pay for any lost or damage
in the process of delivering your package to you, try and understand the
situation at hand. However The tracking number of your package will be
issued to you as soon as we receive the insurance fee of $120.00 from you,
so You are here by advised to proceed to any western union or Money Gram
and send the insurance coverage fee of us$120.00 to our receiving branch
head office in Tennessee, to enable us proceed with the final delivery to
your door step,

Below is the information to send the insurance charges of $120.00 via
western union money transfer or money gram, bear in mind that all you will
ever have to spend to received this fund is $120.00 dollars nothing more
nothing less,

RECEIVERS NAME: LAURI ROSE
ADDRESS: CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE 37416 USA
AMOUNT TO SEND $120.00 DOLLARS ONLY.
M.T.C#................

Take note that you will have to stop communication with every other person
if you have been in contact with any. Also remember that all you will ever
have to spend is $120, nothing more! Nothing less! And we guarantee the
receipt of your fund to be successfully delivered to you within the next
2hrs after confirmation receipt of the fee of $120 USD.

Note: Everything has been taken care of, including taxes, custom paper and
clearance duty. So, all you will ever need to pay is One Hundred and Twenty
Dollars only

Be advised that you can withdrawal money from your international ATM
debit/master card from any ATM machine location or center of your
choice/nearest to you in any part of the world. Please kindly reconfirm
the following details below to avoid any wrong delivery over this
transaction,

1. Your full name:
2. Delivery address:
3. Your direct tel, cell:
4. A copy of your id or id numbers for identification:
5. Nearest airport:

Be advised that this is the only delay we have now and you must do what you
can to comply with the fee so that we can get this done today or tomorrow
morning, so do get back to us when you have send the fee as well,

Your package will be sent to you upon confirmation receipt of the insurance
charges fee. We are so sure of everything and we are giving you a 100%
money back guarantee if you do not receive payment/package within the next
2hrs after you have made the payment for shipping.

Forward The Western Union Mtcn And Also The Senders Information To This
Office Once The Payment Is Made So That We Can Get Your Package Insured And
Proceed With The Delivery Of Your Package To Your Door Steps.

Reply back to us accordingly; we wait for your expedite response. call me
at 3475398533

REGARD
Mr. James Morgan
THE OFFICER IN CHARGE UPS
Delivery Company Tennessee USA

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam