joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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:

Fraud email example:

From: "MR. JOE LEWIS" <investoffer@live.com>
Reply-To: jl.inf@blumail.org
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:43:11 +0100
Subject: INVESTMENT!!!



ATTN;

I am an Investment Consultant, I work with a prime Bank here in London
UK. I want to inquire from you if you can handle this transaction for
mutual benefits/life opportunity for you and me. The transaction is
about seeking your consent to present you as the next of
kin/beneficiary To our late customer over his fund GBP £53 Million
British Pounds.

He died with his family during their vacation journey. I am waiting
for your response for more details. The fund is going to be share at
the ratio of 50/50.

MR. JOE LEWIS.
+44 703 592 1005.

Anti-fraud resources: