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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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "abuja" (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.
- This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
Fraud email example:
From: "Ikobo Inc" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ikobopaycard@live.co.uk>
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:23:24 -0800
Subject: Grant Delivery
Our Ref: IKB/NGN/M2F01
iKobo is a company that specializes in money transfers. With them, you can send money to any country with your Visa or MasterCard. As part of our expansion and promotional package for the fiscal year 2010, we are pleased to inform you that your parcel containing the sum of $2.8 Million US dollars which has been made available to you through an iKobo Visa card.
We have concluded plans to deliver this card to you as soon as possible.
In view of this development, you are requested to offset the $50 USD cost of delivery immediately.
The payment should be made using Western Union money transfer or money gram to the processing accountant using the details below:
Receiver's Name: Davidson Nkem
Receiver's Address: iKobo Office, 221 Campbell Road
City: Abuja
State: Federal Capital Territory
Country: Nigeria
Amount: $50 usd
Test Question:Delivery
Answer: Urgent
After payment you are to get back to us with the following payment information:
Sender's Name:
Sender's Address:
Sender's Country:
Sender's Tel Number:
REFERENCE NUMBER or MTCN:
Test Question & Answer:
So please kindly make the payment for the delivery services so as to avoid cancellation on the delivery.
As soon as we receive the details above, the delivery of the winnings would take immediate effect and delivered to you within the stipulated delivery duration. Congratulations on the success of your winnings.
Best Regards
Mr Robert Parker
Tel: +2348053526562
https://www.ikobo.com
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
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