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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. )
- "chungkumar1@wss-id.org" (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMMER" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <chungkumar1@wss-id.org>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 07:17:20 -0800
Subject: WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMMER
WORLD BANK ASSISTED PROGRAMMER
UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION
COMPENSATION OFFICE
OPERATION DEPARTMENT
NEW DELHI
INDIA
REF PAYMENT OF $1.5 USD MILLION APPROVAL.
Attention:
This is to bring to your notice that the meeting which has been going on with
WORLD BANK AUDITORS AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND has been concluded in
INDIA. Your Name was enlisted among the beneficiaries who were scammed
as our record shows. And it also show you have made some transfer via western
union to Nigeria trying to claim your funds For your information, you have to
stop any further communication with any other person (s) or office (s)to avoid
any hitches in receiving your payment.Because of Impostors, we hereby issued
you our code of conduct,which is (REF-7750) so you have to indicate this code
when confirming the receipt of this email.
In other to recieve your world bank donation, kindly send us the following informations
Name:
Address:
Tel:
City/State:
Occupation:
Country:
Confirm your receipt of this mail without delay.
Yours in service
Mr Kumar Chung.
Account manager)
chungkumar1@wss-id.org
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Anti-fraud resources:
