419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

Home

About Us

Spam

419/Nigeria

Fraud

Contact

"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. )
- "processing fee" (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. )
- "await your urgent response" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "mrjamesbcomey917@outlook.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
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: "Mr. James B. Comey" <mrbensbernanke012@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrjamesbcomey917@outlook.com
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2016 23:23:13 +0100
Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?Attn=3A_=3A_=3A_=3A_=3ATHIS_IS_THE_ONLY_TIME_I_CAN_WRITE_YOU_T?=
=?UTF-8?Q?O_CLARIFY_YOU=E2=80=8F?=

*ROOM, 7367J. EDGAR HOOVER FBI BUILDING 935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20535www.fbi.gov <http://www.fbi.gov>ATTN: UNPAID
BENEFICIARY*

*IF YOU FAIL TO SEND THE $55 THIS WEEK YOUR $10.500, 000.00 IS GONE
FINALLY. I have to inform you again, that we are not playing over this, I
know my reason for the continuous sending of this notification to you, the
fact is that you can't seem to trust anyone again over this payment and we
have now cut the prize of $490 to $55 for what you have been in cantered in
many years ago, but I want you to trust me, I cannot scam you for $55 it is
for bank processing of your payment, the fees is $490 but we have cut to
$55 so that you can be able to send it today, $55 is clearly written to you
before, and the good part of this, is that you will never, ever be
disturbed again over any kind of payment, this is final, and the forms from
there becomes effective once we submit your payment application processing
fee and pay the form fee of $55 I don't want you to lose this fund this
time, because you may never get another such good opportunity, the federal
government is keen and very determined to pay your overdue debts, this is
not a fluke, I would not want you to lose this fund out of ignorance, I
will send you all the documents as soon as bank payment processing fee is
paid, you have to trust me, you will get your fund, find a way to get $55
you will not lose it, instead it will bring your financial breakthrough,
find the money and send it to our bursary. The reason why am sending you
this because I want you to receive your USD10.5M immediately, we are trying
to round up for this payment program. The processing charges which was
initially on the high price has been cut down by the payout bank
considering the poor economic situations that make it difficult for the
middle class citizens to meet up with the processing charges of their
entitlement. Upon the confirmation of your processing charges you will get
your US$10.500, 000.00 into your account within 15hrs. Here is the payment
information through western union money transfer or money gram money
transfer finally my advice to you is not to abandon this transaction
because of the requirement of ($55) Account Officer Info: Send the fee
through Money Gram Or Western Union only. RECEIVER'S NAME: *

*EJEKWU STANLEY COUNTRY: NIGERIA TEXT QUESTION: GO NOW ANSWER: TODAY AMOUNT
REQUIRED: US$55 SENDER'S NAME:.................... MTCN/REFERENCE
NUMBER#:........ SENDER'S ADDRESS:............................ As soon as
the payment is received today, you will receive the said US$10.500, 000 the
same today without any delay.*

* THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION IN ADVANCE AS WE EARNESTLY
AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO THIS MATTER. Call my office @ +9179658659
BEST REGARDS*
*Faithfully Yours,*
*Mr. James B. Comey *

*mrjamesbcomey917@outlook.com
<https://us-mg6.mail.yahoo.com/compose?to=mrjamesbcomey917%40outlook.com> FBI
Director,Former Deputy Attorney General*
*CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:This communication and its attachments may contain
non-public,confidential or legally privileged information.The unlawful
interception, use or disclosure of such information is prohibited. If you
are not the intended recipient, or have received this communication in
error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and delete all
copies of this communication and attachments without reading or saving them*

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam