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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Brown Kuty" <holidayinsrl@tin.it>
Reply-To: westernunion6032@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2018 21:10:27 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Money Transfer Control Number: 942 228 9046

Western Union Money Transfer
EMS Post Office Agent Location
Agata Benin Republic

Dear Customer,
Your details have been verified and your fund has been transferred,
the transfer value is $5000.00 but you will have to pay the service
fee before we authorized your pick up immediately. This batch payment
of $5000.00 will be carried out in an interval of three weeks until
your total fund of $750,000,00 is transferred completely.

Below is the details of your transfer Available for pick up by you

Click here to Track website
https://www.westernunion.com/global-service/track-transfer
Money Transfer Control Number: 942 228 9046
Transfer Status: Available
Sender's Name: Peter Iwunor
Amount Transferred: $5000


*Please note that the above transaction has not been authorized for
pick up, the reason why you cannot pick up your fund right now is
because the service fee has not been forwarded to us which is the only
fee that is putting your fund on hold, as soon as we receive the
service fee your fund will be authorized and will be available for
pick up at any western union agent location in your state.*

Service fee covers the cost of services rendered when administering &
maintaining a third-party transaction to a beneficiary that is not
living within the country which the fund is being deposited, service
fee is usually (0.4%) of the transferable funds.

The reason why the service fee cannot be deducted from your fund is
because your fund has been insured by the depositor, this is in
accordance with section 13(1)(n) of the national monetary act as
adopted in 1999 and amended on 3rd July 2004 by the constitutional
assembly. This is to protect beneficiary and to avoid misappropriation
of funds.

The service fee is 0.5% of $750,000,00 which is $185 plus Value Added
Tax (VAT) of $5.50c. The service fee should be forwarded to our
Account Officer stated below;

Receiver Name: PEACE ABENE
Country : Benin Republic
City : Cotonou
Text Question: In God
Text Answer: We Trust
Amount: $185

Send the following details alongside with a scanned copy of your
payment slip via e-mail to us for prompt clearance:
Sender's name:.......................
Sender's Address:...................... .
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN):....................... .........

If you have questions or need assistance, our team is here to help.
You can send us an email.

Best Regards,.
Maya David
Email address westernunion6032@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: