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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:
- "required 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. )
- "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. )
- "i will advice you " (this email uses bad English)
- "foreign payment department" (Banks mentioned in 419 scams are always fake (real banks don't communicate using mobile phones or free webmail addresses))
- 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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "REV MIKE IBE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unionbankplcz05@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 00:50:50 -0800
Subject: DID YOU SEND YOUR BROTHER IN-LAW TO RECEIVE YOUR $40M bb
Attention:
This Is To Inform You That We Have Receive Your Email And We Thank You Very Much For The Instruction You Have Giving Us To Transfer Your $40m To Your Brother In-Law By Name Mr.MITCHELL LEWS.E .And As I Am Talking To You Now Your Brother In-Law Have Contact Us This Morning Together With His Bank Account Information And Also He Said That He Was With You Yesterday Night And You Told Him That You Do Not Want Your $40m Anymore
Here Is His Bank Account Information He Forward To Us This Morning. Below Is His Bank Account Information
Bank Name: Firstrust Bank
Bank Address: 11 Durham Road Newtown, Pennsylvania 18940 USA
Bank Acct: 60 3506718
Bank Routing: 236073801
Bank Acct. Holder Name: MITCHELL LEWS.E,
Anyway Since You Told Him That You Will Not Contact Us Again Regarding Your $40m And Also I Want To Let You Know Today That I Rev Mike Ibe Will Not Contact You Anymore
But The Only Advice I Have For You Is That If You Really Want Your $40m Then You Proceed To The Money Gram Or Western Union And Send The Fee Of $300.00 Today And Get Back To With The Information
But If You Still Want Your Fund. Then You Proceed To The Money Gram And Send The Fee Of $300.00 Today. Because If You Do Not Act Fast And Send The Fee Of $300.00 Today Believe Me You Will Lose Everything
Therefore I Will Advice You To Proceed To The Money Gram And Send The Fee Of $300.00 Today
Meanwhile Note That You Are Instructed To Send The Required Fee Of $300.00 To Our New Documentation Officer His Name Is As Listed Bellow.
Receivers Name: Harry Uhi
Location :Lagos Nigeria
Test Question : For What
Answer : For Good.
I Will Wait To Hear From You With The Western Union (Mtcn)
Please I Will Advice You To Open The Attachment Of This Message And See His Driver License And That Will Prove That You Are The Person That Sent Him
Regards,
REV MIKE IBE
Director Of Foreign Payment Department
Union Bank Nigeria Plc.
Direct Mobile Tel +234-7084751337
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Anti-fraud resources:
