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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. )
- "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: Office File <o.file123456789@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Office File <wwesternunion46@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 2015 19:50:03 +0900 (JST)
Subject: HERE IS THE MTCN TO PICK UP YOUR PAYMENT TODAY.
WESTERN UNION TRANSFER
455 AGBOKOU ANKPA ROAD OPPOSITE TUNDE
MOTORS COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC
Telephone 00229 9965 8818
Attention:
I want to inform you that we have send your payment of
$5,000 dollars to you this morning and you will be receiving $10,000 dollars
daily until your total sum of $10.5 million is been send to you okay.
Here is the information to pick up your first payment today
and call me to give you the information for the other payment today okay.
Sender Name: Roy Heath
MTCN: 3358547826
Question: Who Is Great
Answer: God
Amount: $5,000.00 USD
Track the MTCN and you will see that the money is available
for you to pick it today i want you to track it first before going to western
union to pick it up today to be sure that your payment is available to pick up
okay.
Meanwhile the only money you will pay is 48 dollars transfer
charge of the payment okay.
Below is the information to send the $48 dollars via western
union okay.
Receiver name: Julius Eze
Country: Benin Republic
City: cotonou
Question: When
Answer: Now
Amount: $48 dollars
MTCN:
Sender Name:
Sender Country:
Thanks for using our service while we wait your kind
response,
MR. JOHNSON BROWN
Director Remit Dept
Telephone 00229 9965 8818
WESTERN UNION TRANSFER
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Anti-fraud resources:
