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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. )
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "Amina Coulibali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <msaminacoulibali1@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2017 02:27:12 -0800
Subject: Your Payment of $7,500usd is ready (collect your MTCN )
How are you today?
I write to inform you that we have already sent you USD7,500.00 dollars in cash through Western union as we have been given the mandate to transfer your full inheritance payment total sum of USD1.4million via western union by the Authorities of IMF/SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN CONTRACT PAYMENT.
Therefore i want you to email Dr Stanley Igho the western union supervisor and ask him to give you the MTCN you needed to pick up the first $7,500 today. Call Dr Stanley Igho now and ask him to give you mtcn for today's pickup and every other information you need to pick up your $7,500. Here is what he may require
from you..
Your Receiver Name...
Tel;........
Address............
text Question.....
Answer.........
So contact him now on his private e-mail address ( stanley_igho@outlook.com ) or phone.+2299557649. let me know as soon as you email him. He is waiting for your email messages now
Thanks,
Mrs. Amina Coulibali
Assistant Director
Fed. Ministry of Finances
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Anti-fraud resources:
