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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:
- "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. )
- "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. )
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "western.union@bay.tc" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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: JIMMY WOMACK <jvwomack@sbcglobal.net>
Reply-To: western.union@bay.tc
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:04:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: I sent the sum of USD$10.000.00
Hello My Friend,
I sent the sum of USD$10.000.00 to you today through Western Union Money Transfer & the information needed to pick up the payment shall be provided by Western Union Clerk MR. ROBERT WILLIAMS. The reason is i am going to burial on which the payment maybe cancelled before i comes back. So i told the Western Union Clerk to keep the payment information until you contact them for the claim. And also be rest assure to contact him with an INSURANCE FEE of (USD$104.00) to ensure them you are the receipient of the said amount. Because each USD$5.000.00 accumulate cost of USD$52.00, Therefore the total USD$10.000 accumulate cost of USD$104.00.
MR. ROBERT WILLIAMS shall provide your (2-two) MTCN Number# & other rest of the information for you to pick up your USD$10.000.00) Ten Thousand United State Dollars as soon as you contact him. You can use your name as SUBJECT when contacting him. Here is also his contact e-mail address and telephone#.
Contact Person: Mr. Robert Williams,
Western Union Clerk Cotonou, Benin
Republic, West Africa States.
Contact Phone# : +229 9794 8648
Contact E-mail: western.union@bay.tc
Contact him immediately to avoid cancellation of the transfer. I will email you as soon as i comes back maybe next week monday. Call Mr. Robert Williams +229 9794 8648 for more confirmation. Thank You for been patient.
MR. JIMMY WOMACK
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