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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. )
- "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)
- "ekeasarl@barid.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
- 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: EKEA SARL <sarl_ekea@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: EKEA SARL <ekeasarl@barid.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:44:17 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: ATTENTION OF GOOD NEWS OF YOUR FUNDS PAYMENT TO YOU TODAY
ATTENTION OF GOOD NEWS OF YOUR FUNDS PAYMENT TO YOU TODAY.
U.S AMBASSADOR TO BENIN REPUBLIC
AMBASSADOR EKEA.G SARL
PLOT 1075 DIPLOMATIC DRIVE
CENTRAL DISTRICT AREA, COTONOU, BENIN.
Tel: +229 689-466-02
I SHALL BE COMING TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING ON TUESDAY AND I WILL BE BRINGING YOUR FUNDS OF $3.5M ALONG WITH ME BUT THIS TIMEÂ I WILL NOT GO THROUGH CUSTOMS BECAUSE AS AN AMBASSADOR TO BENIN REPUBLIC, IÂ AM A US GOVERNMENT AGENT AND I HAVE THE VETO POWER TO GO THROUGHÂ CUSTOMS. AS SOON AS I AM THROUGH WITH THE MEETING I SHALL THEN PROCEEDÂ TO YOUR ADDRESS.
(SEND YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER AND THE ADDRESS WHERE YOU WANT ME TOÂ BRING THE PACKAGE).
YOU HAVE REALLY PAID SO MUCH IN THIS DELIVERY THAT MAKES ME WONDER. YOU ARE A VERY LUCKY PERSON BECAUSE I SHALL BE BRINGING IT MYSELF AND THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT.
YOUR PACKAGE($3.5M) MUST BE REGISTERED AS AN AMBASSADORIAL PACKAGE FORÂ ME TO DEFEAT ALL ODDS AND THE COST OF REGISTERING IT IS $150.THE FEEÂ MUST BE PAID IN THE NEXT 50 HOURS VIA WESTERN UNION SO THAT ALLÂ NECESSARY ARRANGEMENT CAN BE MADE BEFORE TIME WILL BE AGAINST US.
SEND THE FEE VIA MONEY GRAM OR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER
RECEIVERS NAME: LAWRENCE NNALUE
ADDRESS: COTONOU, BENIN
TEXT QUESTION: BALL
ANSWER: IS WORK
AMOUNT: $150
MTCN ................
SENDER NAME:........
SENDER ADDRESS:......
MY FLIGHT IS IN TWO DAYS TIME FROM TODAY AND I EXPECT YOU TO COMPLYÂ BEFORE THEN SO THAT THE DELIVERY CAN BE COMPLETED. IF YOU DO NOTÂ COMPLY, THEN IT WILL NOT BE MY FAULT FOR NOT RECEIVING YOUR PACKAGEÂ PLS YOU ADVICE TO SEND YOUR EMAIL REPLY WITH THE PAYMENT OF THIS $150Â FEE TO THIS EMAI ADDRESS: ekeasarl@barid.com
THANKS.
AMBASSADOR EKEA.G SARL.
U.S AMBASSADOR TO BENIN REPUBLIC
Tel: +229 689-466-02
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Anti-fraud resources:
