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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:
- "dumorrage" (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. )
- "insurance 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. )
- "security keeping 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. )
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- 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: "Mr Moses Goodluck" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <dhl_couriermanager@yahoo.com.kh>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 14:38:20 +0300
Subject: GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY
ATTN:
There is this Mrs. Dena Ketterer from BANK OF AFRICA who came to our
office last week to place your check of $800.000.00 USD on out going
delivery, she already paid for the insurance fee and the delivery charges.
But she did not pay for the security keeping fee due to the fact that we
did not know when you will be contacting us via mail or phone to inform us
that we have your package.
we got notice that your Payment has been uploaded into this CORPORATE VISA
CARD and also have registered it with DHL Courier Service. For your
information, The delivery charges has been paid and they supposed to have
shipped your packaged ATM CARD but they insisted that you must re-confirm
to them your current delivery address to ensure accurate Delivery. we
informed her to contact you on time so you will not have to pay more than
$80 on dumorrage and we do not operate POD{Pay On Delivery} on a charge
like this. All you need to do right now to get your package delivered to
your doorstep is to go ahead and pay the security keeping fee of the
courier company so far. The fee is $90 only, you are to come up with this
fee as to process the delivery of your package for immediate dispatch Note
that as soon as you make payment of security keeping it will take 48 hours
for us to deliver your parcel to you.
Therefore reconfirm your current delivery address.
1. Your full name:
2. Your postal address with zip code:
3. Your house phone:
4. Your cellphone:
5. Attach a copy of any of your identification:
Please hurry now as your package might incurr dumourages if it stays more
than 3days with DHL.
Thanks,
DHL Courier Delivering Company International
Email: dhl_couriermanager@yahoo.com.kh
Tel:+234-704-313-5307
Mr Moses Goodluck
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Anti-fraud resources:
