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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:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- 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. )
- "courier service" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- 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 free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- mr.james_t12@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: MR BROWN CHIDI <DHL@snow.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: MR BROWN CHIDI <mr.james_t12@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 03:36:37 +0900 (JST)
Subject: Contact DHL Company Call Or Sms
Attention please!
Your fund has been packaged in to an ATM VISA CARD since you can not afford to receive it in the past via western union/money gram due to the transfer charge fee and I decided to package the $10.5 million USD into an ATM VISA CARD which I registered with the DHL Courier as a box that contained African clothes and jewelries.
So please contact DHL courier Service Company for the delivery of your ATM VISA CARD, contact them with below information:
Your name.....
Your country....
Your City..........
Your address.........
Your phone number.......
A copy of photo or ID card......
To know when there will deliver your ATM VISA CARD to you,
Contact person MR. JAMES THOMPSON Director DHL courier Service Company Benin Republic.Email:(mr.james_t12@yahoo.co.uk) Telephone number (+229)98612554
Try and call him or Sms.
Sincerely,
MR BROWN CHIDI
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Anti-fraud resources:
