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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER" <info@wumt.com>
Reply-To: officeclaim57@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 19:18:39 -0400
Subject: Good day

Good day

We wish to inform you that(ECOWAS) have instructed us to send to you $150,000 USD.
$10,000 Have already been sent to you as first collection

Sender Information's
Sender's First Name: Edwin
Sender's Last Name: Manafa
MTCN: 4592348610
Amount: $10,000 usd
Test Question: What
Answer: Who

You can check the availability of the money at the Western Union website which is:

https://wumt.westernunion.com/asp/orderStatus.asp?country=global

The transfer is on hold right now, it will be release to you when you reply with the
following below for comfirmation: westernuniontransfer.dept002@yahoo.com.hk

YOUR NAME:
YOUR ADDRESS:
YOUR COUNTRY:
YOUR PHONE NUMBER:

Regards,
Mr.Henz Green

Anti-fraud resources: