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: "Mrs. Karen Desmond" <smashyourfriends@vahatra.mg>
Reply-To: "revdavidsmith4@gmail.com" <revdavidsmith4@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 14:06:04 +0300 (EAT)
Subject: Relpy me immediately





--
KINDLY CONTACTING WESTERN UNION OFFICE NOW.
Read carefully,

The International Monetary Fund IMF is compensating all the scam victims $2,5 USD each, and your email address was found in the scam victim's list.

This Western Union office has been mandated by the IMF to transfer your compensation to you via Western Union Transfer. we need your information as where we will be sending the funds,such as,

Reply here E-mail( westernunionagent55@yahoo.fr ) REV.DAVID SMITH phone number;+229 9625-3962. Call REV.DAVID SMITH immediately you receive the message now for your first Payment of 5000USD today because the first Payment is ready today call him at Direct Line:: +229 9625-3962 now to avoid mistakes like transferring the first payment to a wrong person We are waiting to receive the information
as soon.

Reply here ( westernunionagent55@yahoo.fr )
Receiver name:-________
Address:-_____________
Country:-_____________
Phone number:-_______

Note that your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 24 hours if we did not hear from you, this was the instruction given to us by the IMF.
Thanks,

Mrs. Karen Desmond
Read carefully,

Anti-fraud resources: