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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:
- 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. )
- "money transfer control number" (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. )
- 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: Western Union Money Transfer <dollarman030@gmail.com>
Date:
Subject:
--
Dear Customer,
This is to inform you that we have sent your first payment of
US$5,000.00 USD through western union money transfer as we are
mandated to transfer your total Recovered funds worth US$5.5 million
usd via western union by the United Nations in conjunction with World Bank.
we have concluded to contact you to release
your first payment information which include money transfer control
number(MTCN) so that you can pick up your first
payment of US$5,000.00 and to enable us to send another payment of
US$5,000.00 tomorrow as you know that you will
receive your daily payment of US$5,000.00 till your total fund of
US$5.5 million USD is transferred to you .
Sender First Name: Eric
Sender Second Name: Donald
Amount Sent: US$5,000.00
Reference MTCN: The MTCN number will be released to you once you
reconfirm your receiver info to pick up your first payment.
Fill The Form Below and Send back to us
1. Name:____________________
2. Address:__________________
3. Country:___________________
4. Phone Number:_____________
5. Occupation:________________
6. Sex:_________________
7. Age:___________________
Best Regards
Mr. Raymond Godson
Western union money Transfer.
Email. redacted@domain.name)
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Anti-fraud resources:
