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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:
- "required 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. )
- "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. )
- "you have to be fast" (scammers rush victims so they don't have time to think properly)
- "diplomatic agent" ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist 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 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.
- diplomaticagent87@gmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: ROBERT FREDERICK <diplomaticagent044@gmail.com>
Reply-To: diplomaticagent87@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 15:31:38 -0800
Subject: GOOD DAY I AM DIPLOMATIC AGENT ROBERT FREDERICK.
GOOD DAY I AM DIPLOMATIC AGENT ROBERT FREDERICK.
MY NAME IS ROBERT FREDERICK, BORN IN GHANA AND CURRENTLY WORKING AS A
SPECIAL AND INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC AGENT OF THE U.S EMBASSY COTONOU
BENIN REPUBLIC WEST AFRICA. ALL THE LEGAL BACK UP PAPERS TO PROVE TO
THE ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY HERE THAT YOUR FUNDS IS NO
WAY RELATED WITH DRUG NOR FRAUD MONEY, HAS BEING PRESENTED AND HANDED
OVER TO THE ORLANDO AIRPORT AUTHORITY AND THEY ARE VERY MUCH PLEASED
WITH THE PAPERS. THE PACKAGE CONTAIN AN ATM VISA CARD WORTH USD$10.4
MILLION U S DOLLARS AND YOUR DAILY LIMIT WITHDRAWAL IS USD$8,000.00
PER DAY AND CAN BE USED TO MAKE TRANSACTION LOCALLY AND
INTERNATIONALLY AS I WAS INFORMED BY THE UBA BANK PLC PORTO NOVO BENIN
REPUBLIC.
THE SUM OF $55.00 IS REQUIRED TO SECURE INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY PERMIT
FROM THE ORIGIN OF YOUR ATM VISA CARD SO THAT THE CUSTOM SECURITY
DEPARTMENT HERE IN ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FLORIDA WILL ALLOW ME
IN TO COME AND MAKE THE DELIVERY TO YOUR HOME ADDRESS AS I WAS
MANDATED BEFORE I LEFT AFRICA.THE FEE NEED TO BE PAID BEFORE THE
DELIVERY OF YOUR ATM VISA CARD PARCEL WILL COMMENCE.SO TRY YOUR BEST
TO SEND THE FEE TODAY DELAY IS NOT ALLOWED OR ELSE THE PACKAGE WILL BE
RETURNED BACK AND MARKED AS UNCLAIMED.USE THE DETAILS BELOW TO SEND
THE REQUIRED FEE OF US$55.00 TO THE BENIN-CUSTOMS-SERVICE VIA WESTERN
UNION OR MONEY GRAM MONEY TRANSFER TO ENABLE THE DELIVERY SUCCESSFUL.
HERE IS THE INFORMATION YOU WILL USE TO SEND THE FEE TODAY.
RECEIVER'S NAME .........FRANK ANEKWE
COUNTRY ......................BENIN REPUBLIC
CITY ..............................COTONOU
AMOUNT .......................$55.00
QUESTION....................WHEN
ANSWER .....................TODAY
SENDERS NAME.......
MTCN...........
AM WAITING YOUR REPLY WITH THE PAYMENT CONFIRMATION DETAILS SO I CAN
FORWARD THE INFORMATION TO BENIN-CUSTOMS-SERVICE SO THAT THEY CAN
ISSUE THE NEEDED CERTIFICATE IN YOUR NAME AND SEND IT TO ME HERE IN
ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, SO THE AIRPORT AUTHORITY HERE IN
ORLANDO AIRPORT WILL ALLOW ME IN TO MAKE THE DELIVERY TO YOUR HOME
ADDRESS AS SCHEDULED,
THEREFORE THEY CAN ALLOW ME TO CONNECT MY FLIGHT TO YOUR STATE AIRPORT
AND SEND YOU MY FLIGHT DETAILS TO YOU SO THAT WE WILL MEET AT THE
AIRPORT. YOU HAVE TO BE FAST PLEASE IN SENDING THE NEEDED US$55.00 TO
ENABLE ME JOIN THE NEXT AVAILABLE FLIGHT TO YOUR STATE AIRPORT TODAY
AND MAKE THE DELIVERY TO YOU.
YOURS IN SERVICES,
DIPLOMAT ROBERT FREDERICK
EMAILS:(diplomaticagent87@gmail.com)
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