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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:
- "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. )
- "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.
Fraud email example:
From: "MRS. JANET ROLLAND." <ofcefi1@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: "MRS. JANET ROLLAND." <w_uni1@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2014 18:47:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: YOUR FIRST PAYMENT IS READY TO PICK UP AT YOU LOCATION
 SEND MONEY WORLDWIDE:OFFICE OF THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER. COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC/COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC/ADDRESS 455 AGBOKOU,ANKPAROAD OPPOSITE TUNDE MOTORS COTONOU..Welcome to Western UnionÂ
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Welfare//2014-2015.project no.073Â FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE BENIN ZONAL PROJECT 2014 |
Yours in service     Â
Sec. Mrs. Janet Rolland.
Vital Finance Western Union.Â
 Dearest customer ,
 Attn:
 WE ARE HERE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE CONCLUDE OUR ARRANGEMENT TO RELEASE ALL THE ABANDON FUND FROM FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE REPUBLIC DU BENIN MEANWHILE YOUR FUND SUM OF 1 MILLION US DOLLAR SHAVE BEEN STARTED TO TRANSFERRING CURRENTLY TO YOUR  ADDRESS IN THE RATE OF $5,000 US DOLLARS AS THE FIRST PAYMENT AND THE DAILY AMOUNT YOU WILL RECEIVE TILL THE TERMINATION OF YOUR FUNDS,SO WE DO MAIL YOU THE PAYMENT INFORMATION YOU NEED TO PICK UP YOUR FIRST INSTALLMENT  IN ANY WESTERN UNION AROUND YOU. I WISH TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE THE WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OFFICE HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC ARE THE ONE WHO WITHHELD THE PAYMENT INFORMATION WHICH WILL BE SENDING TO YOU. NOW WE KEEP YOUR PAYMENT ON HOLD BECAUSE AFTER WE HAVE GONE THROUGH YOU’RE PAYMENT FILE, WE DISCOVERED THAT ALL THE DOCUMENTS THAT BACK UP THIS YOUR FUNDS (US $1 MILLON) IN YOUR FILE NEEDED TO BE RE-NEWING AND LEGALIZED TO ENABLE US TO PROCEED AND DISPATCHING OF YOUR PAYMENT INFORMATION OF $5,000 US DOLLARS DAILY UNTIL THE FULL AMOUNT OF  (US $1 MILLON) IS COMPLETED. THE AMOUNT IT WILL COST YOU FOR THE RE-NEWING AND LEGALIZE THE DOCUMENTS IN YOUR PAYMENT FILE IS THE SUM OF $25.00 US DOLLARS WE WANT YOU TO BE REST ASSURED THAT ONCE WE CONFIRM THE REQUIRED FEE ($25.00 TO RENEWING AND LEGALIZED YOU’RE FILE. DEAR CUSTOMER WE TRIED TO DEDUCT THE FEE OUT FROM YOUR FUND BUT THE MINISTER ADMINISTRATOR TRUST FUNDS OF BENIN REPUBLIC TOLD US THAT NO ONE HAS RIGHT OVER YOUR FUNDS AS IT HAVE BEEN SIGNED AND STAMPED THAT NO MONEY SHOULD BE DEDUCTED UNTIL IT GETS TO YOUR HANDS FOR SECURITY PURPOSE.
SO IF YOU WANT TO TRACK THE MONEY AND CONFIRM IF THE FUNDS IS TRANSFERRED ENTER OUR LINK : http://www.westernunion.ua/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&countryCode=UA&languageCode=uk&pagename=HomePage  SENDER NAME: STELLA ODUAH  MTCN ............ 567-719-6723 AND CLICK TRACKING IT TO YOU CONFIRM YOUR FUNDS.    INFORMATION OUTLINES BELOW USE IT TO SEND THE MONEY VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER FOR URGENT REASON.
RECEIVER NAME:............. JEROME ONU.COUNTRY:.................. BENIN REPUBLICCITY:...................... COTONOUTEXT QUESTION:............. HONESTTEXT ANSWER:............. TRUSTAMOUNT:.............. $25
YOUR URGENT RESPOND IS HIGHLY NEEDED. SO WE AM WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TO QUICKEN THE PROCESS. FOR YOUR INFORMATION BELLOW ARE THE INFORMATION YOU WILL USE TO CONTACT THE WESTERN UNION OFFICER AGENT FOR IMMEDIATE OF RELEASING YOUR FIRST PAYMENT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT OF YOU SENDING THE $25.00USD OK? CONTACT PERSON:Agent MRS. JANET ROLLAND. EMAIL: PHONE: +229-68-367-034. REMEMBER TO FORWARD THE WU SLIP AS SOON UPON RECEIPT OK. Vital Finance Western Union.
Yours in service
Sec. Mrs. Janet Rolland.
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