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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. )
- "westernbenin@yandex.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.
Fraud email example:
From: western <www.@cronos.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: western <westernbenin@yandex.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2016 20:17:14 +0900 (JST)
Subject: How are you doing today,
How are you doing today,
I am writing this email to inform you that your total sum of $2.5 Million was forwarded to our remittance office for easy access of transfer to you today.
However, we have been instructed to transfer these funds to you and this instruction got to us through the Federal Ministry of Finance and this mandatory has been given so that this transfer can be made within the next 24 hours via Western Union and you will be receiving your payment daily. Therefore, contact Mr. Chris Patonow with the details below:
CONTACT PERSON: Mr. Chris Pato
EMAIL: westernbenin@yandex.com
This is your first Payment details:
MTCN: 7733646758
Sender name: Daniel Horbachevsky
Please Note: That the above details are for the first transfer she made to you today. So please contact him now and instruct him to give you the other remaining information to pick up your first payment.
Best Regards,
Mr. Chris Pato
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