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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. )
- 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: Andrew j Ben <saadaibrahimslh@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Andrewjben36@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2023 15:17:04 -0700
Subject: GOOD NEWS
Listen very careful my dear customer.
We're not here for extortion,
to your compensation ($50 Million ) payment through this Western Union
Branch Office here. We are instructed to send your funds to your
address in your city Money Western Union from
here jercy city office Western Union money transfer and you will be
receiving your fund ($40,000.00 U.S.D) per day until you received all
your total payment which is the sum of $50 Million USD as scheduled
in our office here. We wish to convey to you that every
other necessary arrangement for transmission of your payment has been
completed by the western onion Office , But we will not hesitate to
inform you that it is now your responsibility to settle for this
re-validation administrative charges of your payment file in order to
enhance a successful transfer of your payment without any obstruction
along the line.
Further more, we are therefore notifying you that you are to
officially make an administrative charge of ($2000.00) to enable us
process the validation of your payment file through our head office
here. Note In Western Union transaction when an amount of fund in
transition is more than US$40,000.00 Dollars,
the document file will be validated before the transfer will commence
as ordered by the Federal Ministry of Finance and in all the Western
Unions of the world-wide.
We want you to know that this is a legitimate transfer and that is why
The Federal Ministry of Finance said that your file which was
deposited at this Western Union with your name must be validated
before the transfer will be done.
Be rest assure that as soon you send this $2000.00 we must start
transferring your fund to you through this Western Union Department
without any further delay and this is the only fee you have to pay in
this transaction as it was written down already by the Federal
government of this country that mapped out the compensation for you.
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