419 scam: "MR. ANDREW LEWIS"<caroline@hipster.com.tw> WESTERN UNION/MONEY GRAM TRANSFER DEPARTMENT.

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. )
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.
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.

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. ANDREW LEWIS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <westernpremuim200001@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2016 07:46:46 -0600
Subject: WESTERN UNION/MONEY GRAM TRANSFER DEPARTMENT.

DEAR CUSTOMERS

THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER/ WWW.MONEY GRAM.COM IN THE AMOUNT OF $250.000.00 US DIRECTED IN CASH CREDITED TO FILE KTU/9023118308/03, AT THE OWNER OF THIS EMAIL ADDRESSES/NAME.

THE WESTERN UNION /MONEY GRAM TRANSFER ARE COMPENSATING YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE REACHED THE LIMIT OF SENDING MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION/MONEY GRAM TRANSFER AND DUE TO YOUR ALLOCATED SECURITY CODE.PATRONAGE TO OUR SERVICE LAST YEAR 2015/2016. WE CHOOSE TO SEND IT TO AN EMAIL ADDRESS INSTEAD OF A NAME. WE ARE UNABLE TO COMPLETE A TRANSFER DIRECTED AT AN EMAIL ADDRESS, SO WE REQUIRE SOME MORE INFORMATION IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS TRANSFER VIA OUR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER, THE MTCN NUMBER SHALL BE ISSUE TO YOU AS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND FROM THE NEAREST SHOP OR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER SERVICE .

1, NAME:
2. CONTACT ADDRESS:
3. MOBILE PHONE NUMBER:
4. OCCUPATION:
5. MARITAL STATUS AND AGE: MARRIED

AS SOON AS THIS INFORMATION IS RECEIVED WE ARE GOING TO PROCEED WITH THE FIRST RELEASE OF THE SUM OF $9,500 USD THROUGH OUR WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM TRANSFER.WE ARE SENDING THE FIRST BATCH IN YOUR NAME, AFTER WHICH THE SECOND BATCH WILL BE RELEASE AGAIN UNTIL WE HAVE FINISH THE TRANSFER IN YOUR NAME.

NOTE THAT AS SOON AS THE TRANSFER IS MADE WE ARE GOING TO SEND YOU THE TRACKING NUMBER OF THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER ,THE SENDERS NAME ,AND THE RECEIVERS NAME, AS YOU ARE REQUIRE TO TRACK DOWN YOUR PAYMENT ONLINE.CONTACT US ON OUR EMAIL ADDRESS AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS NOTIFICATION I URGE YOU SEND THE INFORMATION? SO THAT I CAN PROCEED WITH THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PAYMENT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY.

THE MANAGEMENT OF WESTERN UNION /MONEY GRAM TRANSFER HEAD OFFICE ARE PATRONIZED YOU AS OUR DEAR CUSTOMER.

BEST REGARD.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam