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: "Dr David Bowen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <alfrendmillsap734@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2015 17:40:51 +0100
Subject: YOUR ATM CARD


Dear Sir,

My name is Dr David Bowen (PhD), a diplomat mandated to deliver your inheritance to you in your country of residence. The total funds being delivered to you is $2.5 Million and you were made the beneficiary of the funds by a benefactor whose details I will reveal to you when I arrive at your residence with the funds in accordance with the agreement I signed with the benefactor when he enlisted my assistance to deliver the funds to you.

I am presently at JFK Airport in the United States of America, but before I can proceed with my flight to your city to complete the delivery, I would like you to re-confirm the following information to me; Your full name, address and phone number. This is to ensure that I am dealing with the right person due to the high level of mistaken identities over the internet. Please do not hesitate in responding to this email to enable me proceed promptly with the delivery of your funds to you.

I look forward to your prompt response with the required information.

Warmest Regards,

Dip. David Bowen (PhD)

Anti-fraud resources: