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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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. )
- ",500,000" (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)
- "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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.paulsmith566@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. PAUL SMITH" <ibrahim.lamordeibrahimlamorde2@outlook.com>
Reply-To: <mr.paulsmith566@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 04:17:19 -0400
Subject: IN REGARD TO YOUR ATM MASTER CARD PACKAGE WITH U.P.S
IN REGARD TO YOUR ATM MASTER 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 IN YOUR ATM MASTER CARD CONTAIN IS $6.5
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 TOWARDS THE SHIPMENT OF YOUR PACKAGE THAT WHY HE WANT TO
RETURN IT AND 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 I ENABLE THE SHIPMENT FEE WHICH IS $40.00
WILL BE PAID AND THIS WILL BE THE LAST FEE REQUIRED FROM YOU.IN REGARD
TO YOUR ATM MASTER CARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $6,500,000,00 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 TOWARDS 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 $40
ONLY MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE CHARGE FEE VIA
WESTERN UNION. THE WESTERN UNION INFORMATION BELOW BELONG TO PAUL NWANZE
THE BRANCH MANAGER OF UPS INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING DEPARTMENT NIGERIA.
THIS IS THE INFO TO SEND THE $40 VIA WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM AS BELOW
RECEIVER NAME: PAUL NWANZE
LOCATION: LAGOS-NIGERIA
TEXT QUESTION: OK
ANSWER: OK
AMOUNT:$40.00
MTCN#
SENDERS NAME:
YOUR
SHIPMENT WILL COMMENCE ONCE THE CHARGE FEE IS PAID TODAY. AND AS SOON
AS YOU MADE THE PAYMENT GET BACK TO ME WITH THE 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,
MR. PAUL SMITH
CALL: +234-8087411279
E-mail: mr.paulsmith566@yahoo.com
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