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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. )
- "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. )
- "the consignment" (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)
- "consignment " (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)
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "AMBASSADOR TERENCE P. McCULLEY" <usambassador45@yahoo.com.ph>
Reply-To: usambassador452@yahoo.com.ph
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:25:19 +0200
Subject: DELIVERY OF $2.5MILLION USD
--
US AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA
11 GARKI ROAD ABUJA
ABUJA, NIGERIA
DEAR BENEFICIARY ,
I SHALL BE COMING TO THE COUNTRY FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING BY NEXT WEEK AND I
WILL BE BRINGING YOUR INTEREST PAYMENT OF US$2.5M ALONG WITH ME BUT
THIS TIME I
WILL NOT GO THROUGH CUSTOMS BECAUSE AS AMBASSADOR TO ABUJA NIGERIA, I AM A
UNITED NATION AGENT AND I HAVE THE VETOR POWER TO GO THROUGH CUSTOMS.I AM
SCHEDULED TO HAVE A BRIEFING WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATES BY NEXT WEEK YOU
SHOULD SEND YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER AND THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU WANT ME TO BRING
THE CONSIGNMENT PACKAGE .
YOU HAVE REALLY PAID SO MUCH AS I WAS MADE TO UNDERSTAND AND THAT IS
WHY I HAVE
PERSONALLY INTERVENED . YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON BECAUSE I SHALL
BE BRINGING
IT MYSELF AND THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
YOUR PACKAGE(US$2.5M } MUST BE REGISTERED AS AN AMBASSADORIAL PACKAGE
FOR ME TO
DEFEAT ALL ODDS AND THE COST OF REGISTERING IT IS USD$95.
THE FEE MUST BE PAID IN THE NEXT 50 HOURS VIA WESTERN
UNION/MONEY-GRAM SO THAT
ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT CAN BE MADE BEFORE TIME WILL BE AGAINST US.
YOU SHOULD SEND THE FEE DIRECTLY TO THE CARGO REGISTRATION OFFICER
WITH THE INFO
BELOW
NAME -----MARK EZE
ADDRESS --- 101 AVE IKEJA LAGOS , NIGERIA
TEXT QUESTION -- WHAT COLOR
TEXT ANSWER -----BLUE
MTCN :....
AMOUNT : $95
MY TRIP WILL BE BY MID NEXT WEEK AND I EXPECT YOU TO COMPLY BEFORE
THEN SO THAT
THE DELIVERY CAN BE COMPLETED. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY, THEN IT WILL NOT BE MY
FAULT IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE YOUR CONSIGNMENT PACKAGE.
REGARD,
AMBASSADOR TERENCE P. McCULLEY
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Anti-fraud resources:
