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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:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "clearance certificate" (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. )
- "moneygram" (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. )
- "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. )
- "clearance certificate" (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)
- "lagos" (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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- mg.transferunits@yahoo.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: " Money Gram Headquarters Lagos-Nigeria" <"Info."@peace.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: " Money Gram Headquarters Lagos-Nigeria" <mg.transferunits@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2017 06:35:13 +0900 (JST)
Subject: From the desk of Mr. Timothy Sparks Acting General Manager Money
Gram Headquarters Lagos-Nigeria
From the desk of Mr. Timothy Sparks Acting General Manager Money Gram Headquarters Lagos-Nigeria
Attention My Dear
Your first payment of $5000.00 has been sent today via money gram.You are advise to Contact money gram office with your full information to enable them give you Sender Name, Question and Answer to pick up your First $5000 MTCN= (6923-1415) sender name (Ojadi)you can track your first payment in our website(https://secure.moneygram.com/track) For more information contact Mr.Timothy Sparks , Tele: +234 8178594240 Email (mg.transferunits@yahoo.com) he'll keep sending your payment until your total fund of 2.5M is Completed
Full Name: ___________
Home Address:____________
Phone Number: ________
Country: _________
Sex: ____________
Age: _______
Occupation: ID Copy:
Be informed that your funds was placed on Hold; thereby you can not Pick it up immediately due to an instruction from IMF Office (International Monetary Fund) that you have to obtain the Fund Clearance Certificate (FCC).
This Certificate is to bear you the Original Beneficiary of the Fund. You are advised to know that this payment/prearrange reference number given to you are not registered or active for collection in any of your Money Gram branch office, We have tried our possible best to Indicate that this $250 should be deducted from your total funds, but we found out that the funds have already been deposited to the IMF and cannot be accessed by anyone apart from you, therefore you will be required to pay the required fee's to the agredited Agent in-charge, to obtain the needed Certificate.
Thanks.
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