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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: Barrister Johnson Williams <billing@otv.com.lb>
Reply-To: <mrjohnsonwilliams11@googlemail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 02:42:16 -0800
Subject: UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD

UNITED NATIONS PAYMENT OFFICE NIGERIA
         OFFICIAL PAYMENT UNIT.
         Our Ref: UNO /UN/CTB 
         RELEASE CODE No:0763
 
 
RE: UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION PAYMENT VIA ATM CARD
 
 
 
We have been authorized by the governing body of the United Nations and World Bank, to inform you that compensation payment has been approved to be paid to selected individuals whose names and e-mail addresses were chosen through an open E-mail ballot system initiated by the United Nations (World Bank Assisted Programme) as part of it's 2014 sustainable poverty alleviation programme.
 
 
Your email address was among those selected, hence you are receiving this message. To ensure every beneficiary is duly compensated, we have negotiated with the UBA Bank  and your payment totaling $1,500,000 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars) will be released to you via a Personal Identification Number (PIN) ATM CARD with a maximum daily withdrawal limit of $5,000, which can be withdrawn from any ATM machine worldwide.
 
 
To receive your PIN and ATM card, Kindley send the below details
 
 
FULL NAME....................... 
DATE OF BIRTH...................
TELEPHONE NUMBER................
FAX NUMBER......................
PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS...........
NATIONALITY.....................
ADDRESS.........................
 
 
Please note that this information is needed to enable the bank update and release your ATM Card to you.
 
 
We expect your urgent response to this message to enable us monitor this payment effectively.
 
 
 
Best Regards,
 
Barrister Johnson Williams
Chief Information Technology Officer/
Assistant Secretary-General
United Nations
 
 

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