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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: MARIA SHAH <testmail@yev.vn>
Reply-To: <mariashahh@qq.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 08:51:00 -0700
Subject: REPLY ME

 
Greetings
My name is Maria Shah. I have been diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer which  has  defiled all forms of medical treatment and right now I have only about a few months to live. I am very rich, but was never generous, I have given most of my assets to my immediate family members.
 
Having known this condition, I have decided to entrust my entire estate valued at US$5.3Million  to you so that you can  utilize this money  for  the upkeep of widows, people with Physical disabilities  and charities.
 
Please assure me that you will act accordingly because I do not have any child  by stating
 
YOUR FULL NAMES
YOUR ADDRESS
YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER
 
You will be compensated with 30% of the total sum.
 
Yours sincerely,
Mrs.Maria Shah
 

Anti-fraud resources: