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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: "Warren Cole" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <WarrenCole@qq.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:29:08 +0100
Subject: MY GOOD FRIEND

Hello,
 
I am writing this email to you with a sense of responsibility hoping that my mail will not embarrass you considering the fact that we have not met before.I am contacting you base on your country location, please permit me to use this means to inform you to partner with me into real estate investment in your country  or any other lucrative businesses we can invest, hoping you will not disappoint me in any way.I will provide you all the necessary detail about me once trust is established between us. Please read thoroughly and get back to me but you have the obligation to decline if you are not interested.Let me introduce myself. I am Capt. Warren Cole, in 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment unit here that Patrols the helmand province, Afghanistan. I am desperately in need of assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you.
 
I am presently in Afghanistan and I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of Euro 13,500,000 ( Thirteen Million five hundred thousand Euro) to you as far as I can be assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my service here. This is no stolen money and there are no dangers involved.
 
SOURCE OF MONEY:
 
Some money in Euro currency was discovered and concealed in barrels at a location in helman province when we conducted a foot patrol and it was agreed by all party present that the money be shared amongst us. This might appear as an illegal thing to do but I tell you what? No compensation can make up for the risks we have taken with our lives in this hellhole. The above figure was given to me as my share and to conceal this kind of money became a problem for me, so with the help of a Canadian contact working with the UN here (his office enjoys some immunity) I was able to get the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot. He does not know the real contents of the package as he believes that it belongs to an American who died in an air raid, who before giving up trusted me to hand over the package to his close relative.
 
I have now found a secured way of getting the package out of Afghanistan for you to pick up. I do not know how long I will remain here, as I have been lucky to survive 2 suicide bomb attacks by Pure Divine intervention. This and other reasons put into consideration have prompted me to reach out for help. If it might be of interest to you then Endeavor to contact me immediately and we would work out the necessary formalities but I pray that you are discreet about this mutually benefiting relationship.
 
 
Respectfully,
Capt. Warren Cole
United States Soldier:Afghanistan

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