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: "blessing paul" <missbless11@msn.com>
Reply-To: missbless11@jumpy.it
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 09:30:04 +0000
Subject: FROM BLESSING

Dear One,
It is my pleasure to acquaint you with this proposal for The purpose of
investment in your company.I am Miss Blessing Paul the only daughter of late
George Paul from Sierra Leone. My late father was a Gold and Diamond
merchant based in Freetown Sierra-Leone. As a result of the political
instability of Sierra-Leone, my late father came to Cotonou Benin republic
with the sum of USD12,500,000.000 (US$12.5m) which he deposited in a
Financial and Security
Institution here in Cotonou Benin Republic West Africa for security reasons
I am here seeking for an avenue to transfer this money to a reliable and
trustworthy individual for investment programmes.
I am here as a refugee because of the political crisis in my Country Sierra
Leone. Please I would offer you 20% of the total sum of USD12.5m for your
assistance. Please I need to transfer this money urgently because delay
would not help at all and I need to relocate based on the political
instability in this sub-region, to enable me continue my education
because i was medical student before the sudden of my parents.
Your immediate response would be appreciated.
Best regards
Miss blessing Paul.



Anti-fraud resources: