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: Smith Johnson <testuser@zmail.51.net>
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 00:03:54 +0700
Subject: From Dr Smith Johnson(very URGENT PLEASE)

Attn, I am Dr Smith Johnson From Harlsden, North West London, here in England. working with Natwest Bank Plc London United Kingdom I am writing to you from my office with immense benefit to both of us.I discovered an abandoned sum of £ 12.5 million Great British pounds sterling (Twelve million five hundred thousand Great British pounds sterling) in an account belonging to one of our foreign customers Late Mr. Thompson Morrison, an American citizen who unfortunately died in plane crash in Alaska Airlines Flight 261,including his wife and only daughter. The choice of contacting you is aroused from the geographical nature of where you live, particularly due to the sensitivity of the transaction. And the confidentiality herein. Right now, the fund is lying unclaimed in our Bank and there is no next of kin mentioned in his file and the bank has been unsuccessful to locate any of his relative. I personally have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives. I seek your consent to present you as relatives / Will Beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at £ 12.5 million pounds may be paid to your account.This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 60% to me and 40% for you. I have secured all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up this claim, we do. I got your contact from your country international business information here in London. Please, give me the following, which we have seven days to run it through. It is very very URGENT PLEASE. 1 Your full name 2 Your mobile number 3 Your Contact Address 4 Occupation / position Regards, Dr Smith Johnson Email:robert101wolf@yahoo.com Tel: +4470 1295 1776 TRANSFER OF £12,500.000.00

Anti-fraud resources: