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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:
- "from the desk of" (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. )
- "money gram" (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. )
- "service 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. )
- "robert mueller" (This name is often mentioned in money recovery scams (re-scam): the real FBI will not tell you to contact some email address. If you are in any doubt, contact an FBI field office via www.fbi.gov. )
- "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: FBI DIRECTOR <deskofficiall@sify.com>
Reply-To: info.fbioffice2@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:25:30 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: TO ENABLE THE SHIPMENT TONIGHT.
>From the Desk of F.B.I Special Agent Robert
Mueller.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.(FBI)
Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation.
J. Edgar. Hoover Building
Washington D.C
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.(FBI)
Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation.
J. Edgar. Hoover Building
Washington D.C
This email is very important and i want you to abide to my advice and
instruction to enable the delivery of your package to you today.
After investigation with the help of the U.S Embassy official F.B.I Agent the
only problem delaying the shipment of the package is $42 which will be used
to pay the Airport Customs secure terminal for the safe and security keeping
service render to your package all this while and there service fee need to
be paid before they will allow UPS to ship out your package.
The Head Manager of U.P.S Rev. JONA UZOMA SIMPLE assured me your package is
secured and once the charge fee required $42(US$) is paid he will personally
make sure he signed the delivery order instruction form to enable the Next
day express delivery.
NOTE: YOUR VISA CREDIT CARD CONTAIN $1.2 MILLION USD AND THE 2ND CONTAIN A
VERIFIED BANK OF AMERICA ATM CARD WHICH CONTAIN $1.2 MILLION USD WITH ALL
BACK UP DOCUMENT EVERYTHING WAS MADE IN YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS AND THE PACKAGE
INCLUDE AN INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO MAKE WITHDRAW WORLD WIDE AND ALSO CASH-OUT
THE CHECK WITHIN 3 HOURS BECAUSE IT IS VERIFIED ATM CARD.
I know you have spent a lot recently but you need to know that this
transaction is very important and the charge fee required will be the last
fee to enable this transaction come to an end i assure you and promise you i
will do everything in my power to make sure Daniel Mario ship your package once
the charge fee $42(US$) is paid ok.
I want you to try your best and get a loan from a friend or relation and
promise to pay back within 24 hours because it will take only 10 hours to get
the package delivered to you once shipment commence.
USE THE INFORMATION BELOW TO SEND THE $42(US$) VIA WESTERN UNION OR MONEY
GRAM MONEY TRANSFER AND ONCE PAYMENT IS MADE GET BACK TO ME WITH THE REQUIRED
PAYMENT CONFIRMATION DETAILS SO I CAN FORWARD IT TO MR. WILLIAMS PETER
RECEIVER NAME: JONA UZOMA SIMPLE
ADDRESS: 35 AIRPORT ROAD,
CITY: COTONOU
COUNTRY: BENIN REPUBLIC
ZIP CODE: 00229
TEXT QUESTION: WHO IS OUR SAVIOR?
ANSWER: THE LORD JUSUS
MTCN:-------
SENDERS NAME: -------------
AWAIT YOUR REPLY AND THE REQUIRED PAYMENT CONFIRMATION DETAILS TO ENABLE THE
SHIPMENT TONIGHT.
ROBERT S. MUELLER
SENIOR OFFICE DEPARTMENT
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION FBI.WASHINGTON DC
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935
Pennsylvania Avenue,NW
Washington,
D.C.20535-0001, USA
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