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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:
- "activation 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. )
- "i am using this medium to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "cotonou" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- 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.
- +229 (Benin, probably a prepaid mobile phone)
Fraud email example:
From: DR JOHN WEST <ss---744sss---hhs@att.net>
Reply-To: uwestern53@ymail.com
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:29:59 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WESTERN UNION DEPARTMENT
ATTN:BENEFICIARY.
FUND TRANSFER OF $6000:00 USD
THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FUNDS OF US$1,5MILLION WHICH WAS PLACED ON HOLD BY THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUNDS FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS AGO HAS BEEN RLEASED AND WE DID NOT HEAR FROM YOU SINCE, RIGHT NOW INFORMATION REACHING US FROM OUR CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS NOW STATES THAT YOU ONLY HAVE 48HOURS TO EFFECT PAYMENT FOR THE ACTIVATION OF YOUR MTCN TO ENABLE YOU CASH UP YOUR FIRST $6,000.00 FROM YOUR TOTAL FUND OF US$1,5MILLION AND YOU WILL BE RECEIVING US$6000.00 PER DAY UNTIL YOUR TOTAL AMOUNT FUND IS TRANSFERED COMPLETELY.
YOU ARE TO PAY WHAT EVER YOU HAVE FOR THE ACTIVATION FEE; WE WILL ACTIVATE YOUR MTCN UPON RECEIPT OF THIS PAYMENT. HERE IS THE PAYMENT FOR THE $6000.00 USD BUT YOU CAN NOT PICK IT UP BECUASE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE WESTERN UNION SAY THAT BEFORE YOU PICK THAT MONEY YOU MUCH PAY THE ANY AMOUNT YOU HAVE OK
WEBSITE:WWW.WESTERNUNION.COM CLICK TRACKING
SENDER NAME:===CHARLES HECKMAN
MTCN NUMBER:=== 486-133-3714
QUESTION====GOD IS
TEST ANSWER===GOOD
AMOUNT====$6000:00 USD
BE INFORMED THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY THE BALANCE SUM OF YOUR ACTIVATION UPON CASHING UP OF YOUR FIRST $6000:00 USD, ALSO I AM USING THIS MEDIUM TO INFORM YOU THAT FAILURE TO PAY THE BALANCE SUM WILL LEAVE US WITH NO OPTION BUT TO DEACTIVATE YOUR MTCN OF WHICH YOU WILL AND CAN NEVER CASH UP THE BALANCE SUM I WANT YOU TO SEND THE RENEWING AND TRANSFER FEE WITH THE INFORMATION BELLOW.
1.RECEIVER NAME:.....MR OKECHUKWU CHIBIKE
2.COUNTRY:...........BENIN REPUBLIC
3.CITY :.............COTONOU
4.TEST QUESTION:.....HONEST
5.TEST ANSWER:.......TRUST
6.AMOUNT ............ANY
7.SENDER NAME........?
8.MTCN NUMBER.........?
SEND US THE MTCN NUMBER IMMEDIATELY YOU SEND THE MONEY AND IMMEDIATELY WE CONFIRM THE TRANSFER FEE WE WILL SEND YOU THE FIRST RECIEPT OF YOUR $6000:00 USD TODAY AND NOT TOMORROW REGARDS MY DIRECT PHONE LINE IS +229_ 98373457 CONTACT THIS EMAIL: uwestern53@ymail.com DR JOHN WEST FROM WESTERN UNION OFFICE BENIN REPUBLIC FOR YOUR PAYMENT
DR JOHN WEST
OPRATION MANAGER
WESTERN UNION DEPARTMENT
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Anti-fraud resources:
