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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: sentmailbypeter@yahoo.com
Reply-To: gdwhitford1@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 02:23:17 +0100
Subject: Message From Gordon Whitford!

Dear Friend,

My Name is Gordon Whitford, an accountant by profession.

My reason for contacting you is to make a deal to transfer an abandoned amount of $18.35 (Eighteen Million Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds) to your foreign account.

This money has been unclaimed for 12 years in our Bank. All I need from you is to stand as the beneficiary of the above mentioned sum and I will re-profile the funds with your data, which will enable our financial firm transfer the sum to you.

If you are interested kindly get back to me for more details.

Best regards

Mr. Gordon Whitford
gdwhitford1@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: