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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:
- "moneygram" (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. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- "federal high court" (This court is often mentioned in '419' scams to give the victim a reason why he/she should send thousands of dollars to the scammers. A 'Federal High Court' exists in Germany and Nigeria, but not in other countries, such as the UK, Spain, Netherlands, Senegal, Benin, South Africa or other countries where fake lawyers in scams often claim to be based. )
- "cotonou" (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.
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
- 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.
- gram83772@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr.Zima Yayi,." <tompal@alice.it>
Reply-To: gram.money@list.ru
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 2016 15:28:44 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Breaking News,2016
Dear Customer.
Breaking News,2016 This is to inform you that the higher authorities that is
in-charge of international transaction has this morning declared that you
will
receive your $4.2M USD through Money Gram Transfer Only as compensation for
your past effort here in Benin Republic. So the arrangement has been made this
morning and the Federal High Court Of Justice has signed your Money Gram
Transfer Papers and the only money you will pay is $75. for the signing of it
which means your transfer will start tomorrow morning. The daily transfer of
your fund is $5000.00 per day until your total $4.2M USD is completely
transferred to you.
I am here to swear to you that your first payment of the $5000.00 daily
transfer will be on its way today or latest
tomorrow morning once we confirm the $75 from you which is for the Federal
High
Court Of Justice Benin Republic signing of your Money Gram Transfer Papers.To
show you the truth.
Below is the First transfer payment details which has been insert into our
computer.
Reference #: 67809491
Sender's First Name: Nweke
Sender's Last Name: Obi
Question; What For
Answer:help
Then we want you to type WWW.MoneyGram.COMand click tracking and paste
sender's first name and last name,the you paste mtcn number and click check
status to see that your first transfer of
$5000.00 is available for you but you
will not pick it until you pay the needed $75 for the signing of your Money
Gram Transfer Papers by the Federal High Court Benin Republic.
So we are here giving you this Money Gram Payment Information Information for
you to send the $75 immediately and your first transfer of the $5000.00 will
be
on its way after we pick the $75.
BELOW IS THE Money Gram PAYMENT INFORMATION.
RECEIVER'S NAME....PETER NNE
COUNTRY....BENIN REPUBLIC
STATE..COTONOU
TEXT QUESTION...LONG
ANSWER....TELY
AMOUNT NEEDED.....$75 ONLY
REF NUMBER...
SENDER'S NAME....
We wait for your mail with the $75 from you and be rest assured that you will
receive your total compensation of $4.2M
USD from us because this is General Money Gram Head Office here in Benin
Republic. Finally you are advise to stop
emailing any office or department here in Benin Republic until you receive
your
full compensation from us,this is for your security.
>From Money Gram Transfer
Head Office Benin Republic
E-MAIL( gram83772@gmail.com )
Manager Dr.Zima Yayi
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Anti-fraud resources:
