419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (YYYY-MM)

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:
- "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. )
- "million us dollars" (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)
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr.jeh charles jonhson" <"www."@snow.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: mrjaneliasson610@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2017 03:09:31 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Hello Dear Beneficiary, this is money gram office number+229
67989520,text or call OK,,,

Hello Dear Beneficiary, this is money gram office number+229 67989520,text or call OK,,,

This message is from the Management of Money Gram Money Transfer Office St. Paul, MN. 55104 United States Of America and We wish to inform you that the IMF have release your funds sum of 30Million US Dollars issued on your name and the money was deposited with us in this Office as MTCN and Reference Number credit card, we shall be sending the money to you everyday $8000.00usd until we complete the total payment of $30 Million us dollars to you and right now your first payment of Today has been paid to your name and below is the Money Gram Payment information of your today payment:

Senders name .Daniel Salinas
Reference Number... #60453011
Text Question..When?
Text Answer..Now
Amount Sent...$8000.00

Now you are to reconfirm your personal information to me so that the payment will be reconfirmed with your information that we have with us here:

1.Full Name;______________________
2.Home Address;________________
3.Call phone number:_______________
4.Country;_____________________
5.City:___________________
6.Sex;________________
7.Age;_______________
8.Nearest Airport;____________
9.YOUr email_____and password:________

Thank You
Mr.jeh charles jonhson
The Management Of Money Gram
St. Paul, MN. 55104 United States Of America

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam