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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.

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Fraud email example:

From: "mr.george" <george2001@educ.ar>
Reply-To: georgefrancis71@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:45:14 +0100
Subject: MAIL FROM MR. GEORGE (READ AND REPLY)

DEAR SIR,

I KNOW THIS WILL COME TO YOU AS A SURPRISE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW ME.
I AM MR. GEORGE FRANCIS, I WORK IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA ,PACKAGING
AND COURIER DEPARTMENT BEFORE I GET STROKE DURING THE NIGERIA BOMB BLAST
WHICH CAME UP TWO YERAS AGO,ALSO IT WAS DURING THIS BOMB BLAST I LOST MY
DARLING WIFE WITH TWO CHILDREN REMAIN ONE SON IT WAS BECAUSE OF THIS SON
I WANT TO TRANSFER THIS FUNDS. BECAUSE OF THIS I WAS RESIGN BY THE BANK
FOR A TREATMENT WHICH I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY.DURING THIS MY SERVICE
IN OFFICE I WAS ABLETO MANAGE THIS FUNDS THROUGH DIPLOAMTIC.

I GOT YOUR CONTACT IN MY SEARCH FOR A HONEST PERSON THROUGH ONE OF MY
COLLEAGUES HERE IN THE CENTRAL BANK WHO SAID THAT I CAN CONFIDE IN YOU.
I WANT YOU TO HELP ME CLEAR A PACKAGE WHICH I SHIPPED THROUGH THE
UNITED NATIONS DIPLOMATIC COURIER AGENT ATTACHED TO CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA,AND
HE WAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN LONDON NAME (WITHHELD) UNTIL I HEAR
FROM YOU. THE CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGE IS US$22M(TWENTY TWO MILLION UNITEDSTATES
DOLLARS) ALL IN $100 BILLS, BUT THE COURIER COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW THATIT
IS MONEY THAT I HAVE IN THE PACKAGE.

ALL I WANT YOU TO DO FOR ME NOW IS THIS GIVE ME-

YOUR PRIVATE PHONE AND FAX HOPE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY , YOU WILL HAVE
15% AND 85% WILL BE FOR ME.

MY IDENTITY MUST NOT BE REVEALED TO ANYBODY . IF THIS ARRANGEMENT IS
OKAY BY YOU.

OTHER MODALITIES WILL BE DISCUSSED AS SOON AS YOU GET BACK TO ME
INCLUDING SENDING OF THE KEYS TO THE BOXES TO YOU.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MR. GEORGE FRANCIS



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