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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. )
- 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: "DR MUSTAFA JAMES" <upsoffice63@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: upsoffice636@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 09:44:43 -0500 (COT)
Subject: IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTER CREDIT CARD PACKAGE WITH U.P.S
IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTER CREDIT CARD PACKAGE WITH U.P.S
I RECEIVED AN EMAIL ALERT FROM UPS IN REGARD TO YOUR PACKAGE WHICH HAVE
BEEN WITH THEM FOR TWO WEEKS NOW AND THE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING AGENT IN
CHARGE PLANNED TO RETURN YOUR PACKAGE TO THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE
OF NIGERIA. THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOUR MASTER CARD CONTAIN IS $10 .5 USD
MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST RATE UP TILL DATE.THE MASTER CARD
WAS PROGRAMMED TO HAVE ACCESS GLOBALLY WHICH YOU CAN MAKE WITHDRAW OR
TRANSACTION IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD
.
IT SEEMS YOU DON'T WANT TO SHOW ANY SERIOUSNESS TOWARD THE SHIPMENT OF
YOUR PACKAGE THAT WHY HE WANT TO RETURN IT AN HE NEED PERMISSION FROM ME
FIRST BEFORE HE WILL RETURN THE PACKAGE. I ORDER HIM TO STOP AND I ALSO
ASSURE HIM THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THE CHARGE
FEE REQUIRED TO ENABLE THE SHIPMENT WHICH IS $185 WILL BE PAID AND THIS
WILL BE THE LAST FEE REQUIRED.
IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTERCARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $10 .5 USD MILLION USD I
WILL HELP YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU RECEIVE IT AND MY INVESTIGATION SHOWS YOU
HAVE SPENT A LOT RECENTLY IN REGARD TO THIS PACKAGE AND THIS WILL BE THE
LAST FEE.
REMEMBER YOU HAVE SPENT A LOT TOWARD THIS PACKAGE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE
REQUIRED NOW IS PAID SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE AND YOU WILL RECOVER ALL YOU
HAVE SPENT RECENTLY. THE CHARGE FEE REQUIRED NOW IS NOT MUCH SO YOU WILL
BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE LAST FEE NEEDED WHICH IS $185 ONLY MY ADVICE TO YOU
IS TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE CHARGE FEE VIA WESTERN UNION. THE WESTERN
UNION INFORMATION BELOW BELONG TO IMELDA DAHER THE BRANCH MANAGER OF UPS
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING DEPARTMENT UNITED STATE. SEND $185
RECEIVER NAME: IMELDA DAHER
LOCATION:493 KIRKSTONE WAY LAS VEGAS NEVADA 89123 USA BRANCH
TEXT QUESTION: OK
ANSWER:
OK
AMOUNT:$185
MTCN#
SURE SHIPMENT COMMENCE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE IS PAID. SENDER NAME????MTCN
NUMBER???FULL SENDER ADDRESS USED:???TEXT QUESTION???ANSWER???? AWAIT YOUR
REPLY AND REMEMBER SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE TODAY AND IT WILL TAKE ONLY 26
HOURS TO GET THE PACKAGE SHIPPED TO YOU.
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY
BEST REGARDS,
DR MUSTAFA JAMES
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Anti-fraud resources:
