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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: mrsmariankomu@mail.az
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 14:55:39 +0200
Subject: TRUSTEE

Mrs MARIA NKOMU
mrsmariankomu@mail.az
DEAR,
I GREET YOU IN THE NAME OF GOD, AND ALSO WISH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THE BEST OF GOD'S LOVE, VERY SORRY TO
BOTHER YOU, IT IS DUE TO LACK OF TRUST IN MY COUNTRY. THOUGH WE HAVE NOT MET,
HOWEVER, I FIND IT COMFORTABLE, RELATING THIS TO YOU. MY NAME IS MRS MARIA NKOMU,
FROM ZIMBABWE, MY HUSBAND DR JOSEPH NKOMU, WAS MUDERED ON THE 5TH OF FEB 2003 BY PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE'S LOYALIST
, SO I AM A MOTHER LEFT ALONE WITH TWO KIDS TO TAKE CARE OF.
I WANT TO INVEST WHAT MY HUSBAND LEFT BEHIND FOR ME AND MY CHILDREN, AND I WOULD
WANT YOU TO ASSIST ME DO THAT IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND BY YOU PERSONALLY, AS THERE
IS NO STABILITY OF GOVERNANCE, IN MY COUNTRY.
THE TOTAL FUND IS ELEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSANDUS DOLLARS {11.500,000}, AND IT IS DEPOSITED IN A VAULT COMPANY IN EUROPE. I
SHALL GIVE YOU THE CONTACT OF MY LAWYER, WHO WILL DIRECT YOU FULLY.
I WOULD LIKE YOU TO RESPOND WITH YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE NUMBERS, TO ENABLE ME
CALL YOU.
THANKS AND GOD BLESS
MRS MARIA NKOMU.

Anti-fraud resources: