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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. )
- "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. )
- "money transfer control number" (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. )
- "are expected to pay " (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.
Fraud email example:
From: "DR. ALBERT ALFRED ALSON" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <westernworld@vf.vc>
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 08:57:39 -0700
Subject: =?Windows-1251?B?U3BhbToqKkRPTidUIFJFSkVDVCBUSEVTRSA=?==?Windows-1251?B?RS1NQUlMIEZPUiBZT1VSIE9XTiBHT09EIEFORCBCRU5FRkk=?==?Windows-1251?B?VCoq?=
Western Union Head department Benin.
Office address: C/323 Midombo Avenue.
Director: Dr. Albert Alfred Alson.
E-mail: westernworld@vf.vc
Tel/Fax: (+229) 9863.
Attention; Dear Customer
SEND AT-LEAST $55 TO HAVE YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF $5,000 NOW.
We thank you for your urgent response, we want you to understand that you will be entitled to be receiving an installment payment of $5000 from this office as mandated by the United Nations and you are expected to pay $255 in total but we have demanded that you are free to pay at-least $55 so that we can transfer to you and after you cash your first payment, you can balance whatever fee remaining.
You can track with the below detail to see the availability of your first payment of $5000.
https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=BJ2
Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) :# 0741370142
Sender First Name: Jason
Sender Last Name: Callahan
MTCN:.... 0741370142
TEST QUESTION:We Trust
TEST ANSWER:In God
AMOUNT:....$5000.00
All you need to do is go to any western union store nearest to you and remit $50 with the enlisted payment details.
1. Receiver Name:------------------------------Boniface Nnalue
2. Country:-------------------------------------Benin Republic
3. City:---------------------------------------------Cotonou
4. Text Question:-----------------------------------------Yes
5. Text Answer:------------------------------------------Yes
6. Amount:----------------------------------------------$55
7. Mtcn:------------------------------------------------???
Note: It was signed and stamped by the United Nations and the Federal Government that no money should be deducted from your fund, and that is the reason we can not collect the $255 out of your fund, so kindly go ahead and send $55 so that you will send $200 later after receiving your first payment from us.
**Guarantee and assurance that we are given to you is that once you come up with the $55, you shall be qualified to be receiving daily payments of $5000 from this head department until your fund worth US $2.2 Million has been completely transferred to you. So go ahead and remit the $55 and give us about 2 hours to process and scan the payment receipt to you so that you can go to any nearest western union and cash payments without any problems whatsoever.
Kindly get back to us as we anticipate your urgent email. Thank you and You can reach us on +229-9799-8713 for any inquiry you have.
Dr. Albert Alfred Alson
Operational Manager
Western Union Dept.
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