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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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. )
- "consignment " (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",500,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "high court" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
- 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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- info98116@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: Mr. Douglas<usaa@freeway.com>
Reply-To: info98116@gmail.com
Date: 21 Aug 2017 18:14:54 -0400
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION
U.S.A. Internal Revenue Service Department Bureau of Consular
Affairs.
Washington , DC 20520 Greeting from IRS Date: 2017/06/21
Contact person: Mr. Douglas Mike
Private email: info98116@gmail.com
URGENT Attention,
This is to bring to your attention that the airport authority
monitoring
team have picked up your consignment with below delivery details
from your
delivery agent due to your inability to provide the necessary
clearance:
CONSIGNMENT DETAILS
TAG#: BJ2661428986
REF: B762661428BJ
REG NO: 0229BJ
RECEIPT NO: 339331,
BATCH NO: 55674
RELEASE CODE NO: 0763
VALUED $5,500,000.00 USD
Further investigations on this matter clarifies the true source
of the fund as inheritance / compensation fund and free from any
illegal
activity; you are therefore mandated to forward your Proof of
Ownership Certificate duly notarized at the high court from the
origin of your
consignment or a mandatory Non Criminal / Clean Bill legal
translation fee is $89.00 have to be paid by you within 72 hours.
Once again, make payment to the country of origin Control Unit:
Send it through Western Union or Money-Gram and send the payment
slip via THIS EMAIL.
It has been resolved that the delivery of your consignment to
your address must be complete within three (3) working days upon
your
acknowledgment of this notification. An airport delivery aid will
proceed with your consignment delivery.
Note that any unclaimed consignment will be returned to the
Government Treasury after 10 days; so you are advised to do the
needful and pick up your delivery as soon as possible to avoid
further delivery delays.
Yours Faithfully,
Commissioner Mr. Douglas Mike
Commissioner of Internal Revenue Service - IRS
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Anti-fraud resources:
