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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:
- "dear friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "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. )
- 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.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- western.unionoffice027@gmail.com (Gmail/GoogleMail; can be used from anywhere worldwide)
Fraud email example:
From: "MR. FRANK OKOYE" <tolembe1@terra.com>
Reply-To: westernunionoffice027@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:36:15 +0900 (KST)
Subject: CONTACT MR. FRANK ASHLEY.
Dear Friend,
I wish to inform you that your payment has approved to be send through fastest & easiest way to receive it which is Western Union Money Transfer. It supposed to be approved last week but i was out of office till yesterday.
You are yet to provide below information to Agent of WU, MR. FRANK ASHLEY, Manager Western Union for them to start sending your part payment as i was advised by Federal Ministry Of Finance that you will be reciving $5000.00 daily till the total fund completed while your total fund to be send is (US$850.000.00).
Provide below info to them:
Full Name:
Country:
Location:
I was also told by Federal Ministry Of Finance that you need to Re-new and Re-confirm your old files which was here for long in amount of (US$45.00) before the transfer takes place but that should be when you get intouch with Western Union Agent, So contact MR. FRANK ASHLEY, E-mail:(western.unionoffice027@gmail.com) or call him at +229-9794 8648
Thanks for your patiency.
Mr. Frank Okoye
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Anti-fraud resources:
