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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. )
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "westernunin99@windowslive.com" (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: WESTERN UNION INC LTD <mathewwest@rediffmail.com>
Reply-To: westernunin99@windowslive.com
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:39:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Dear Winner.. $6,000 has been sent to you MTCN...9748-656-111.
Dear Winner.. $6,000 has been sent to you MTCN...9748-656-111.
We wish to official inform you that United States Embassy and IMF Head office gave us approval notification today from World Bank group instructing us to release your long awaited payment via Western Union through this reliable branch as you have waited for this payment so much, we thank God very much that they submitted the necessary documents require for us to start sending your payment without stress so we have started sending your payment as instructed.
We have transferred your first payment of $6000.00 today and it is available for pick up by you but you can't pick it until you send the $77.00 to renew your payment files like as we told you earlier.You should have receive it today if you follow our instruction to send the money like we told you before but not late yet,you are advised to proceed to the western union to make the payment and send us the payment information to receive it.Remember you shall be receiving $6,000 dollars daily until you receive your total funds.
Be rest assured your first payment of $6000.00 will be cash able by you within 45 minutes after we received the fee of $77.00 from you.Below is Money Transfer Tracking; For your convenience you can use our website to track your money transfer online. www.westernunion.com
MTCN .....9748-656-111
Sender's First name------- Teddy
Sender's Lst name-----Glaush
Question....what color?
Answer....red.
Amount.....$6000.00
You advice to transfer to payment to our cashier account details:
Receiver:....Mr. Osita Michael.
Country:.....Benin Republic
City:........Cotonou
Question:....I Have What?
Answer:......Your Word That You will Pay me Back
Amount........$77.00
After sending the $77 dollars for the file renewal fee please ensure you forward us the western union receipt for easy pick up as we shall always forward you receipt any time we transfer your $6,000 dollars payment to you.
Quickly furnish us the information below to be sure the money was transfer to the right address in the first place.
Your city.
name.
cell phone number.
As soon as we receive our requirement we shall ensure you start receiving your payment without delay as signed.
Thank you
Mrs.Anita William.
TELEPHONE:{+229-99-092-98 or +229-9909-3023}.
Respond via this mail id only::westernunin99@windowslive.com
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