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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. )
- "i will advice you " (this email uses bad English)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "cheque " (Beware of any scheme that involves cashing checks or money orders and then wiring a portion of the funds somewhere - you'll be liable for the entire amount if the checks or money orders turn out to be fake, even after you have received and forwarded cash. If it's a lottery prize, remember that real lotteries do not pay large prizes by check. They wire the money directly to your bank account and you do not pay for that. Many scammers promise a large check only in order to then demand payment of courier fees for a fake courier service. )
- 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: "Mrs.Michelle Barack" <mrjeffmax@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrs.michelleobama40@yahoo.in
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2015 10:41:22 -0700
Subject: How are you today ?
FROM MRS. MICHELLE OBAMA, LAST NOTICE
How are you today ?
I am Mrs.Michelle Obama and I am written to inform you about your Bank
Cheque Draft brought by the United Embassy from the government of
Nigeria in the white house Washington DC which contains the sum of
$20.000.000 millions US dollars credited from the bank of America, the
delivery of your funds has been mandated to be deliver to your address
as soon as you get back to me with your home address and your cell
phone number. Bear in mind that I have taking my time to be in charge
of your funds as instructed by my husband to ensure that you received
your funds successfully from the white house to reduce the economy and
I’m the only one that has your funds in regard to my husband Mr.Barack
Hussein Obama II and you will have to pay the sum of $250.00 only
before your Bank Cheque Draft will deliver to you on 1 of Sept
2015, the reason why the fee is required is to have your funds
clearance paper from the origin of the funds to avoid any harassment
from the authority and you are also expecting to be announce as winner
of the said amount by Friday as soon as your fund is delivered to you.
So you are urgent advised to get back to me with your home address and
also the payment information today for immediate effect of your
delivery. Note that the $250 is the only fee and final payment you
have in my assurance. However, according to our agreement with the
originated Nigeria, all our communications should be on email for
record purpose so follow my instruction accordingly, even if you don’t
have the $250 try to borrow it and send it immediately because this is
your life opportunity and I don’t want you to lose the chance any
more.
Please I will advice you to urgent make the payment via western union
money transfer to the listed cashier information as instructed you by
the originated authority.I will look forward to received your email
today with the payment to enable the origin secure the required
clearance papers required at White House Lagos to deliver your funds.
Note that it will take only 14hrs to deliver your Bank Cheque Draft in
receipt of the $250 payment.
Please find the payment data below to send the $250 via western union
or Money Gram
Receiver Name: Okafor Lee
Country: Lagos-Nigeria
Question: Mrs
Answer: Michelle
Amount: $250 USD
MTCN reference number............
Sender Name...........
Sender's Telephone……
Sender's Address........
I look forward to your respond to your email with the payment today.
Regards
Mrs.Michelle Barack
The White House(Official Residence of the President of the US)1600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20500 USA
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