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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:
- "activation 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. )
- "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. )
- "to your nominated bank account" (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)
- "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.
- 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: HOMELAND SECURITY <"www."@energy.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: HOMELAND SECURITY <paymentportfolio111@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 07:49:26 +0900 (JST)
Subject: GOOD NEWS TO YOU
Treat this as matter of urgency
Am James F. McDonnell from the Department of homeland security USA' Am here to keep you reminded about our last meeting on Foreign remittance act 2017 with some of the West African top government officials which took place on the 13th of February regarding the delay of your long awaited funds' We checked all your payment files which was presented by the Director of the paying bank (United Bank For Africa) and verified that your compensation funds which was approved to be directed to you very long time ago is still unclaimed and they made it clear to us that you are unable to secure the related requirements that is the reason why the long awaited funds has not been directed to you as mandated
After the meeting' the Dept was instructed to release $5000 to you through money gram office so that you can be able to have some funds at hand to settle the requirements that is related to the transfer of your long awaited funds as instructed to enable the paying bank to commence on the wire transfer of your total deposited sum of ($3.5m USD) to your nominated bank account in your country
I just rechecked your payment files today and verified that your payments are still unclaimed after the instructions which was given to the Department in Benin since February to release $5000 to you through money gram office,i went on and called the director on phone today to know what is going on at their end and he was shocked about this and told me that they sent $5000 to you through Money Gram office since 22nd of March 2017 and forwarded it to your email and there was no response from you since then to prove that you have confirmed the payment they directed to you
They just forwarded the payment details to me and i have tracked it through Money gram website and discovered that the payment is still available for pick up by the receiver at any Money Gram location but right now the Money Gram office is demanding for the sum of $127 for activation purposes before you can be able to cash up the payment today at any Money Gram location nearest to you
You can track your transfer through Money gram website with the reference number and the sender's last name which is (ejimofor) through Money Gram website to confirm the availability of this transaction and make sure you follow up the instructions by making the activation fee of $127 available to enable you cash up the payment of $5000 at any money gram location nearest to you as mandated
Below is payment details to pick up your payment of $5000 today
Money Reference NumbÂer (REF): 362 619 91
Sender's First Name:Âaugustine
Sender's Last Name: Âejimofor
MTCN:# 362 619 91Â
Click on this link to track the payment through money gram Website (https://secure.moneygram.com/track)
Send the activation charge in favor of (Samuel Edu) through money gram office with the payment info listed below
Receiver Name .......Samuel Edu
Country.....Benin Republic
City.........Cotonou
Amount to be sent.......$127
Sender's name/Country.......?
Sender's phone number.......?
Reference No............?
Thanks for adhering to this instruction
Reply accordingly for more directives
Kind Regards.....
James F. McDonnell
Phone......+1 (202) 660-4786
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