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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. )
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "fedexcourierng@qq.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: "FedEx Online Management Team" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fedexcourierng@qq.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:06:49 -0400
Subject: Dear Customer, Your Package Delivered To Wrong Address
Dear Customer,
This email is coming to you with respect to a package belonging to you and was sent to a wrong address due to your lack of cooperation. As you already know that this package is containing an International ATM CARD in your name and in the amount of $4.6 million usd.
This email is to officially let you know that our delivery team has finally carried out delivery of your package. The package left Lagos Nigeria on January 20th 2015 and was delivered to a wrong address in Manchester, Great Britain on 22 of January 2015. The package was delivered to a Cathedral pastor in Manchester whom contacted our Manchester office and made us understand that he wasn't expecting any ATM CARD from anybody. He had to drop the package at our Manchester office as an unwanted package and pleaded with our office to make sure the ATM CARD was delivered to the legitimate owner.
We contacted our WEST AFRICAN office today to notify them about this package and after proper investigation and research from our West African (Nigerian) office where the package was sent from we found out that the package containing your international ATM CARD in the amount of $4.6 million usd was sent to a wrong address due to your reluctance in providing your correct address.
To track your package, go to www.fedex.com and insert the tracking number below to view delivery status.
www.fedex.com
Tracking Number: 803241988650
On the tracking page you will see that this package was delivered to a wrong address on the 22nd of January. This is because you have refused to cooperation with our WEST AFRICAN (Nigerian) office in the past by providing your correct delivery address. You are hereby advised to contact and provide our WEST AFRICAN (Nigerian) with the below details.
Contact Person
Mr. Darwin King
Email: fedexcourierng@qq.com
Phone: +234 817 450 6575
You are to provide the above mentioned office with the below details so the can immediately update their record for your package to be redirected to you immediately.
Your Name(In Full):
Your Delivery Address:
Your Direct telephone Number:
Please note that you as the rightful owner will be required to provide a redirection fee of $180 which you are to make available to our WEST AFRICAN office where the package was sent from via WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER in the name of our WEST AFRICAN (Nigerian) accounting officer stated below.
RECEIVERS NAME: Isaac Kome
RECEIVER'S ADDRESS : Lagos Nigeria
TEXT QUESTION: Saviour
TEXT ANSWER: God
Amount: $180
MTCN: ??????????
Upon receiving your correct details and the payment MTCN from you, we will immediately notify our office at Manchester and the package will be redirected to your correct address immediately. Note that a different tracking number will be given to you which will allow you to monitor the delivery on our official website.
This is important and as such your immediate response to this email will do you Good.
Management,
Mr. Ashley Sherlock
(+44) 708-762 8871
FedEx Online Management Team.
All rights reserved. 1995-2015 FedEx
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