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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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)
- 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.
- wunionoffice82@yahoo.fr (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: DOUGLAS MORRIS <b.eco35@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: wunionoffice82@yahoo.fr
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 02:09:33 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: FROM DR DOUGLAS MORRIS REGARDING YOUR PAYMENT OF $1.5MUSD
SEND MONEY WORLDWIDE:
OFFICE OF THE
WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER. COTONOU
Financial Bank
Benin Republic
WESTERN
UNION DEPARTMENT
Address Rue du Commandant
DECOEUR,
Avenue
du Gouverneur Général Ponty, Cotonou
Benin Republic B.P. : 01 -
2700
Western
Union/ Phone:
00229-98914872
E-mail:wunionoffice82@yahoo.fr
ATTENTION DEAR
BENEFICIARY;
I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU ON PHONE, BUT THE NETWORK IS
NOT THROUGH.MY NAME IS DR LEONARD CULLEN FROM WESTERN UNION HEAD OFFICE BENIN
REPUBLIC.I HAVE A MEETING WITH FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE YESTERDAY CONCERNING
ALL THE MONEY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SENDING TO GET YOUR PAYMENT.WE CONCLUDED THAT
YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR $1.5 MILLION BY ATM CARD MEANS.
WE HAVE ALREADY CONVERTED THE FUND IN ATM
CARD.WE ARE GOING TO DELIVER THE ATM CARD THROUGH REGULAR MAIL, POSTAL SERVICE.I
AM HERE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU RECEIVE YOUR FUND.THE TRUTH IS THAT THE POST
OFFICE WILL CHARGE US $25 DOLLAR ONLY TO DELIVER THE CARD
ACTIVATION OF THE
CARD IS $30.00 TOTAL $55.00.
I WANT YOU TO ACTIVATE THE CARD TODAY SO THAT AS SOON AS IT IS
DELIVERED TO YOUR HOUSE ADDRESS YOU WILL START RECEIVING YOUR MONEY AT THE
AMOUNT OF $5000.00 DOLLAR PER DAY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN YOUR COUNTRY.
IF I DID NOT HEAR FROM YOU IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS
WITH THE TOTAL FEE OF $55.00 I WILL CANCEL THE PAYMENT.
SO TRY TO SEND THE $55.00 TODAY AND FORWARD THE
MTCN.
USE THE INFORMATION BELOW AND SEND THE
MONEY.
RECEIVER
NAME.. MIKE OSITA
COUNTRY...BENIN REPUBLIC
TEST
QUESTION...FOR
ANSWER...NOW
AMOUNT ...$55.00
ONLY
YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED TODAY WITH
THE PAYMENT INFORMATION SUCH AS MTCN AND SENDERS NAME TO ENABLE THE POST OFFICE
DELIVER YOUR ATM CARD TO YOU IN THE NEXT 2 DAYS.
YOURS IN
SERVICE
MR
DOUGLAS MORRIS
Mobile
(00229-9891-4872)
FOREIGN
OPERATION
MANAGER
WESTERN
UNION OFFICE
BENIN
REPUBLIC.
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Anti-fraud resources:
