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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. )
- "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: "DR. JOHN FRANK" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atmpaymentunit50@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 08:04:38 -0800
Subject: IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTERCARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $1.5
SIR,
I RECEIVED AN EMAIL ALERT TODAY FROM UPS IN REGARD TO YOUR PACKAGE WHICH
HAVE BEEN WITH THEM FOR A MONTH 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 ATM MASTER CARD CONTAIN IS $1.5
MILLION USD AND THIS INCLUDE INTEREST RATE UP TILL DATE.THE ATM 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 TO YOUR DOORSTEP THAT IS WHY HE WANT TO RETURN IT AN HE NEED
PERMISSION FROM ME FIRST BEFORE HE WILL RETURN THE PACKAGE. NOTE THAT I
HAVE ORDER HIM TO STOP AND I ALSO ASSURE HIM THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THE
CHARGE FEE REQUIRED TO ENABLE THE SHIPMENT WHICH IS $105 WILL BE PAID AND
THIS WILL BE THE LAST FEE REQUIRED FROM YOU.
IN REGARD TO YOUR MASTERCARD PACKAGE WHICH WORTH $1.5 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 IMMEDIATELY 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 $105 ONLY
MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GO AHEAD AND SEND THE CHARGE FEE VIA WESTERN UNION
OR MONEY GRAM. THE WESTERN UNION INFORMATION BELOW BELONG TO NWANNA OKISE THE
BRANCH MANAGER OF UPS INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING DEPARTMENT NIGERIA. SEND $105
RECEIVER NAME: NWANNA OKISE.
COUNTRY: NIGERIA
STATE: LAGOS
TEXT QUESTION: A
TEXT ANSWER: B
AMOUNT:$105
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. JOHN FRANK
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Anti-fraud resources:
