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: "F B I" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <agentbrittjohnson@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2016 12:08:59 +0100
Subject: Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Division

From the office of Agent J. Britt Johnson
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Intelligence field unit
2635 Century Parkway N.E,
Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30345 USA
 
Urgent Attention:
 
This is a private e-mail from Special Agent J. Britt Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Atlanta Division) Intelligence Unit. We intercepted two (2) trunk boxes at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta international airport, and we are on the verge of moving it to our bureau head quarters.
 
Maybe you're not even aware of it due to the diplomat that suppose to deliver the consignment boxes with all necessary information for the delivery to you tried to divert your funds with a Canadian Citizen just to satisfy their greed but just at that very moment we apprehend them at the Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta international airport departure terminal.
 
We confirmed through the paperwork that said boxes contain a total sum of $5.8 Million United Stated Dollars and the backup paperwork bears your name and email address as the owner of these trunk boxes. The interrogation we carried out on the diplomat who convoy these boxes into the United States, also confirmed that he was supposed to deliver the fund directly to you as your lottery winning/inheritance payment which was due you from the finance Minster office of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
 
We cross-checked all legal documentation in these trunk boxes and was about to release the trunk boxes to you when we found out that your trunk boxes lacked a vital paperwork which requires to be obtain from the appropriate quarter. Until the required paperwork is obtained by you, we cannot release these trunk boxes for onward delivery to you.
 
You must reply immediately for further direction on how to procure this paperwork so that your trunk boxes can be legally cleared from our storage vault where we kept them for safe keeping. You’re required to contact this bureau within 72 hours or we would take it that you don’t want your trunk boxes and we would move it to the treasury department if we don’t get a feedback from you within the specify period of time.
 
Regards,
J. Britt Johnson
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Division.

Anti-fraud resources: