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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. )
- "you are advise to" (this email uses bad English)
- "courier company" (Courier companies mentioned in 419 scams are always fake. They will have you send money to them, but won't deliver anything. )
- "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: "MR.ERIC OBIORA" <b1a66676r5@gmail.com>
Reply-To: impexcourier79@outlook.com
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 09:53:36 -0930
Subject: CONTACT IMPEX DELIVERY COURIER COMPANY FOR YOUR ATM MASTER CARD
--
INSTRUCTIONS TO DELIVER YOUR PARCEL.
IMPEX COURIER IS A WELL-ESTABLISHED COMPANY OFFERING COURIER AND
TRANSPORT
SERVICES 24 HOURS FOR PRIORITY DELIVERY OF LETTERS, PARCELS AND
CONSIGNMENTS
TO ANY DESTINATION BY ROAD, AIR OR SEA.
ATTENTION DEAR CUSTOMER ,
WE THE IMPEX COURIER DELIVERY COMPANY BENIN REPUBLIC HAS RECEIVED YOUR
MAIL
REGARDS TO YOUR ATM CARD VALUED $5.5MILLIONUSD WHICH WAS DEPOSITED AT
THIS
IMPEX COURIER COMPANY BY MR.AMU OMATA,CHAIRMAN OF FOREIGN PAYMENT OFFICE
WEST AFRICA.
I DR. LARRY MOORE THE IMPEX COURIER DELIVERY COMPANY DIRECTOR BENIN
REPUBLIC IS HEREBY TO INFORM YOU THAT WE ARE 100 % READY TO DELIVER YOUR
ATM CARD OF
$5.5 MILLIONUSD DIRECT TO YOUR HOME ADDRESS IN YOUR COUNTRY AFTER YOU
FOLLOW OUR DELIVERY RULES,WE WRITE TO INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE WRAPED
YOUR
ATM CARD INTO
OUR DELIVERY PACKAGE BOX AND READY TO MOVE IT AS FROM TOMORROW MORNING.
THEN BASED ON OUR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY RULES AND REGULATIONS YOU ARE
ADVISE TO PAY ONE OF THE SERVICE CHARGE BELOW.
24 HOURS DELIVERY CHARGE...$285
48 HOURS DELIVERY CHARGE.....$150
72 HOURS DELIVERY CHARGE....$95
PLEASE YOU ARE ADVISE TO CHOOSE THIS DELIVERY OPTION WHICH YOU WILL BE
ABLE
TO PAY FAST AND GET BACK TO US WITH THE WESTERN UNION PAYMENT DETAILS TO
ENABLE
US PROCEED AHEAD FOR THE DELIVERY WITHOUT ANY DELAY.
THEN BELOW IS DELIVERY INFORMATION WE NEED FROM YOU.
YOUR FULL NAME .....
YOUR COUNTRY.....
STATE....
HOME ADDRESS.....
YOUR NEAREST AIRPORT.....
AGE....
SEX....
YOUR MOBILE PHONE.....
YOUR HOME NUMBER.....
OFFICE PHONE NUMBER IF POSSIBLE.
Â
SEND THE MONEY THROUGH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER TO THE BELOW
INFORMATION'S:
RECEIVER'S NAME: .DONARD MIKE
COUNTRY:...........BENIN REPUBLIC.
CITY:..............COTONOU
TEST QUESTION:.....HOW LONG?
ANSWER: ...........SOON
AMOUNT:............
SENDER'S NAME:.....
MTCN NUMBER: ......
I AM WAITING TO RECEIVE THE PAYMENT INFORMATION TODAY IN ORDER TO
DELIVER
YOUR PACKAGE IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY.
I AM WAITING FOR YOUR UPDATE REGARDS TO THIS DELIVERY AND KEEP THIS
DELIVERY SECRET FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.
CALL US WITH THIS LINE... +229 62259573
REGARDS
MR.ERIC OBIORA
DELIVERY DIRECTOR
OF IMPEX COURIER DELIVERY COMPANY
COTONOU BENIN REPUBLIC BRANCH.
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