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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. )
- "you are advice to " (this email uses bad English)
- "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.
- 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. ERIC LEE" <zhaotai@zhaotai.com.cn>
Reply-To: <atmofficeauthoriza@foxmail.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2016 20:41:49 -0700
Subject: ATTENTION! ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!!!
ATTENTION! ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!!!
WE WISH THIS MESSAGE WOULD GET TO YOU ON TIME AS WE HAVE MADE SEVERAL EFFORTS IN REACHING YOU IN THE PAST FEW DAYS. IN OUR EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT WE SERVE OUR CUSTOMERS SATISFACTORILY AND MAINTAIN OUR CREDIBILITY, WE HAVE JUST UNVEILED AN EFFORT BY AN UNIDENTIFIED PERSON TO CLAIM YOUR FUND HIS NAME IS MR CHARLES COOK.
THIS SAID PERSON CLAIMS TO BE YOUR NEXT OF KIN AND BENEFICIARY OF YOUR FUND OF $500.000.00.USD. AS HE REPORTED TO US THAT YOU ARE DEAD. THIS, WE DECIDED TO VERIFY BEFORE EFFECTING THE RELEASE/TRANSFER OF YOUR FUND TO HIM, AS THE FUND IS READY FOR RELEASE.
BELOW IS A COPY OF THE BURIAL PICTURE HE SUBMITTED TO US, WHICH HE CLAIMED WAS TAKEN ON YOUR BURIAL DAY. ALSO ATTACHED WITH THIS MESSAGE IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE SAID PERSON.
WE THEREFORE REQUEST THAT YOU CONFIRM THIS INFORMATION BY WRITING BACK TO US AND SENDING TO US THE FEE OF $59.WITHIN THE NEXT 3 HOURS OF RECEIPT OF THIS MESSAGE.
BE INFORMED THAT THE SAID FUND IS READY FOR RELEASE AND ANY DELAY IN SENDING OF THE PAYMENT OF $59. AUTOMATICALLY LEAVES US WITH THE BELIEF THAT MR CHARLES COOK IS RIGHT AND THE FUND WILL IMMEDIATELY BE RELEASED TO HIM WITHIN 24 HOURS.
YOU ARE ADVICE TO SEND THE $59 WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION BY WESTERN UNION OR BY MONEY GRAM:
RECEIVERS NAME:.................. Kelvine Romanus
COUNTRY:..................... BENIN
CITY:...................... COTONOU
TEST QUESTION:......... HOW MANY MINS?
ANSWER:............. 20MINS
AMOUNT:............ $59.USD.ONLY
SENDER:NAME..........
MTCN..................?
THAT IS IF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE
FINALLY, YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE TO THIS MESSAGE WOULD FACILITATE THE QUICK TRANSFER/RELEASE OF YOUR FUND BEFORE THE END OF TODAY.
WE ANTICIPATE YOUR QUICK RESPONSE AND ESTEEMED COOPERATION.
SINCERELY YOURS,
DR. ERIC LEE/ DESTINY MIKE
北京兆泰集团股份有é™å…¬å¸
北京市西城区太平桥大街丰汇时代大厦东段19层
电è¯:83571000
邮编:100032
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