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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Western Union" <offce321@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: office@internationalmoneytransfer.co.uk.pn
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2014 02:18:50 +0200
Subject: Re: Your Cashier Check




Hi,
It has come to the attention of (Western Union Money Transfer - Corporate
Headquarters) that you have been going through hard ways in order to see
to the release of your fund payment, which has been the handwork of some
miscreant elements from this country; we certainly do apologize for any
inconvenience that this may have caused. It is my pleasure to inform you
that your payment issue is settled and a cashier check has been issued in
your name. All you need to receive your entire funds in a cashier check is
(claimant affidavit) which is a laid down procedure in the financial
institution for a situation like this and it is a basic requirement for
you to successfully claim the funds. The Authentication of documents takes
approximately 2-4 hours to process from the time payment is received. It
will cost you ($125) at our High Court Probate Division for the release of
this sum of ($2,800,000) to you as the sole beneficiary. In order to help
us serve you better and expeditiously, you are expected to arrange the
High Court filing fee of ($125) before 7 days of this notice. Once we
confirmed your payment, your cashier check will be registered with DHL
express for onward delivery, at the same time, we will email a new invoice
to you with the tracking number, and you will be tracking your shipment
online in 24 hours till you received it. I look forward to the pleasure of
your kind favourable response fairly soon, in the meantime with kindest
regards and best wishes.

Yours Sincerely,
Jean Claude Farah
Senior Vice President, Middle East & Africa
Western Union Money Transfer,
Corporate Offices & Headquarters
office@internationalmoneytransfer.co.uk.pn

Anti-fraud resources: