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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. )
- "your urgent reply" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "keep it confidential" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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: GOODLUCK AMARA <gideonakuna@gmail.com>
Reply-To: goodamason@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2017 05:08:14 +1200
Subject: Dear Beneficiary!
Dear Beneficiary!
We have tried all we could to complete your transfer through Online
Bank Transfer but no avail
Due to bad network we are having here. so we decided to use ATM MASTER
CARD method to finalize
your transaction. We have programmed an ATM MASTER CARD with your name
and uploaded your total
fund of (US$2.500.000.00) Two Million Five Hundred Thousand State
Dollars) in the Card so that
you will be withdrawing it in any ATM MACHINE. The ATM MASTER CARD
works worldwide and the daily
amount according to our programming system is (US$5,000.00) Five
Thousand Dollars only.
I Dr.Goodluck Amara, has made the delivery arrangement with DHL
DELIVERY COMPANY BENIN REPUBLIC
that will carry on the delivery to your given address and their
Manager told me that Delivery
Cost of the ATM MASTER CARD to your house is CFA 58.000 which is
(US$100.00) and it must be paid
before delivery according to the Manager. He assured me that their
Company takes good 4-days to
complete any delivery registered with accurate address. So you are
advised to reconfirm your full
address as required below to avoid wrong delivery:
Full Name:____________________
Home Address:_______________
Country:______________________
State:________________________
City:_________________________
Zip-code:______________________
Telephone Number:_____________
Send the Delivery charge of your ATM MASTER CARD through Western Union
Money Transfer or Money-
Gram to these following name:
Receiver Name: Anderson Ama
Country: Nigeria
City: Lagos
Test Question: In God
Test Answer: We Trust.
Amount: US$100.00
MTCN#
SENDER'S NAME:
Your ATM PIN# is: [6445] and you have to keep it confidential to avoid
losing it. Please your
urgent reply will be appreciated for immediate registering of your ATM
CARD with DHL COMPANY as I
confirmed that their delivery completes within 4-days through the
first Card I sent to Germany
few weeks ago. Contact us back today.Dear Beneficiary!
We have tried all we could to complete your transfer through Online
Bank Transfer but no avail
Due to bad network we are having here. so we decided to use ATM MASTER
CARD method to finalize
your transaction. We have programmed an ATM MASTER CARD with your name
and uploaded your total
fund of (US$2.500.000.00) Two Million Five Hundred Thousand State
Dollars) in the Card so that
you will be withdrawing it in any ATM MACHINE. The ATM MASTER CARD
works worldwide and the daily
amount according to our programming system is (US$5,000.00) Five
Thousand Dollars only.
I Dr.Goodluck Amara, has made the delivery arrangement with DHL
DELIVERY COMPANY BENIN REPUBLIC
that will carry on the delivery to your given address and their
Manager told me that Delivery
Cost of the ATM MASTER CARD to your house is CFA 58.000 which is
(US$100.00) and it must be paid
before delivery according to the Manager. He assured me that their
Company takes good 4-days to
complete any delivery registered with accurate address. So you are
advised to reconfirm your full
address as required below to avoid wrong delivery:
Full Name:____________________
Home Address:_______________
Country:______________________
State:________________________
City:_________________________
Zip-code:______________________
Telephone Number:_____________
Send the Delivery charge of your ATM MASTER CARD through Western Union
Money Transfer or Money-
Gram to these following name:
Receiver Name: Anderson Ama
Country: Nigeria
City: Lagos
Test Question: In God
Test Answer: We Trust.
Amount: US$100.00
MTCN#
SENDER'S NAME:
Your ATM PIN# is: [6445] and you have to keep it confidential to avoid
losing it. Please your
urgent reply will be appreciated for immediate registering of your ATM
CARD with DHL COMPANY as I
confirmed that their delivery completes within 4-days through the
first Card I sent to Germany
few weeks ago. Contact us back today.
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