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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. )
- "00,000.00" (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)
- 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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: wumto99@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 04:47:36 -0000 (GMT)
Subject: Western Union(R) Compersation From UN
How are you today?
This is to inform you that we have already sent you USD5000.00 dollars
through Western union as we have been mandated to transfer to you the full
compensation sum payment of USD1.800,000.00 via western union by this
government.
In this regards, i tried calling you yesterday to give you this
information through phone conversation in order to prevent the chances of
cyber criminals laying hold of this vital information but coundn't get to
you. So i decided to email you the MTCN, Sender’s Name and other
relevant infos so that can pick up this USD5000.00 to enable us send
another USD5000.00 by tomorrow as you knows we will be sending you only
USD5000.00 per day. Please pick up this information and go to any western
union office near you in your country to pick up the USD5000.00 and email
us so that we can further with the rest amount tomorrow.
Manager Mr Roy Charlton
Tell: +234-813-121-8412
Email: wumto@live.com
call or email me once you picked up this USD5000.00 today.
Here is the western union information to pick up the compensation
MTCN : 622 159 4597
Sender's Name: Linda Benson
Question: Honest
Answer:Trust
Amount: USD5000.00
I am waiting for your call once you pick up this transfer
Regards
Mr. Martin Noam
Chief Operating Officer
Western Union®nsfer
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