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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. )
- "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. )
- "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: MR JOHNSON SMITH <mgram970@gmail.com>
Reply-To: jfk.airport@yandex.com
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 14:49:51 -0800
Subject: Attn My Dear: Urgent reply
This is to confirm the receipt receive two man today in my office today
being 10th march 2014.and there told me that you send them to receive your
fund as you are not interested anymore so I need to confirm from you if
you truly send the two men to receive your fund because of only $79.00 to
Re-activate the ATM CARD so if you are not aware of them let me know so
that I will call my police here to get the two men arrested today and you
will try and send the money today unless you send them. TAKE THE NOTE send
the $79.00 if your not away of them ok
With all due respect to this office and Federal Government Benin we want
you to send the $79.00 today because of non-activation card because of the
fraudster as the instruction was given from the office of Presidency, World
Bank, IMF/UNO .And the fund is $3.8million so as soon as you receive this
email today either you go to western union or money gram make sure you send
the fee because I can assure you that immediately you send the fee today
first thing tomorrow morning your ATM CARD will be activate and also rich
at your home address.
We are here to send your ATM card to you tomorrow, the ATM card will get to
you within 48 hours working days, and all you have to do now is to
re-confirm your full information where to send you the ATM card such as.
AFTER YOU SEND THE FEE RE-CONFIRM YOUR FULL ADDRESS WHERE TO DELIVER THE
ATM CARD.
RECEIVER NAME -------PETER EKWENYE
CITY--------------------COTONOU
COUNTRY---------------BENIN REPUBLIC
TEST QUESTION------------BEST
TEST ANSWER-----------------WAY
AMOUNT------------------------$79 US
MR JOHNSON SMITH / PHONE NUMBER +229 98333967
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Anti-fraud resources:
