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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Thomas Jimmy" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <thomasjimmy02@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:23:45 -0600
Subject: CONGRATULATION: RESPOND QUICKLY!!!

Dear Beneficiary,
My name is Dr JIMMY THOMAS.,the deputy governor CBN.I was mandated by the President Federal
 
Republic in conjunction with the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Senate Committee on
 
Foreign Debts Reconciliation and Implementation Panel on Contract/inheritance/compensation
 
funds to complete all the unpaid Contract/inheritance/lottery fund. You are required as a
 
matter of urgency to reconfirm your information including your name, phone number and your
 
address for verification and immediate payment within 24 hours.
To this effect, the sum of TEN MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US
 
$10.7m) has been approved for you. I wish to inform you that all matters relating to the
 
release of this payment is now under my control and supervision. This development has
 
become necessary due to the activities of unpatriotic government/CBN  officials and
 
impostors who keep on frustrating every effort to settle our clients by making requests for
 
unauthorized fees and levies from them.
We apologize for any delay you might have encountered in the past; your payment is now 100%
 
Guaranteed
Kindly choose from these three modes of payment(wire transfer, diplomatic cash payment and
 
ATM card).
Best Regards,
Dr.JIMMY THOMAS
Deputy Governor CBN

Anti-fraud resources: