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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. )
- "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. )
- "transfer of your funds" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "million united state dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "united state dollar" (this email uses bad English)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- MoneyGram money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. Along with Western Union it is a preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.
Fraud email example:
From: "Khumalo Mhlongo" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gramm0798@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 2016 03:54:11 -0300
Subject: FROM MONEY GRAM HEAD OFFICE SOUTH AFRICA.
Attention .
We received your email in respect of your daily payment and we have concluded to affect your payments through Money Gram transfer. I will be sending $7,500.00us to you daily until your $4.5Million United State Dollars is completely transferred to you accordingly as your receiver details has forwarded for payment. But you required to pay only $85 usd to enable us purchasing of your inheritance file to prevent illegal transfer of your funds or any form of hindrance in receiving your funds.We shall obtain the inheritance file and finalize the process of your daily transfer, Money Gram Office will affect your payments as soon as you send the fee of $85.Below is the information which you will use to send the required fee through Money Gram office that is close to you.
Receivers Name= = ( Mulenga Sefu )
Country: = = =South Africa.
Text Question= = = What color?
Answer= = = Red
Amount= = =$85 only
Ref= = = = = =
Sender's = = =
Mr.Khumalo Mhlongo
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Anti-fraud resources:
