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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. )
- "processing fee" (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: "G.J.Durward" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gjdurward@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 21:52:29 +0300
Subject: Fund Notification.
This is to inform you that the Nigerian Government has issued an irrevocable directive stating that all funds being owed to foreign Benenficiaries be released immediately.
Consequently, your inheritance of US$7.5 Million will be irrevocably released to you.
As one of such beneficiaries being owed the sum of US$7.5 Million and for the funds to be processed and released to you,you have to provide the following details
1) Full Name
2) Contact Address
3) Telephone Number
The above stated information has to be provided with a Processing Fee of US$190.
This fee is mandatory and you have to pay in order to successfully process the remittance of your fund.
This Processing fee of US$190 should be paid by Western Union Money Transfer in the name stated below:
Name:Collins Uba
Address:Lagos,Nigeria
Test Question: Thanks
Answer: Welcome
Send the following information after making the payment.
1) Sender's Name
2) Sender's Address
3) MTCN
As soon as the Processing Fee of US$190 is paid,your funds will be released to you without any delay.
G.J Durward
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Anti-fraud resources:
