joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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: "afzal kamuzu" <afzalkamuzu7@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: afzal-kamuzu@excite.com
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:53:12 +0000
Subject: ATTN: FRIEND

Dear Friend,

I will start by introducing myself.I am a senior
government official with the Federal Ministry Of
Works and Housing and a member of the contract review
panel set up by the present civilian government in my
country.

The funds in question is a result of over
invoicing which my colleagues and i at the panel
deliberately made for our benefit.

Presently,the funds is lying in an account with the
apex-bank here in Nigeria.We cannot lay claim to this
funds(US$30.5million) because our code of conduct does not allow
us to operate foreign accounts besides,our annual
income is less than us$3,000 so we cannot backup
such huge amount.For this reason i have been picked by
my colleagues to look for someone who can assist us
claim this money hence i contacted you.

Your assistance will be required in the sense you
will be required to pose as a contractor that
carried out a contract for the Federal Ministry Of
Works and Housing and your contract has since been
completed but till date you have not been paid and now
you are making your claims because you heard that the
present Civilian Government is paying all foreign
contractors that have been owed for a long time.

All documentation to back up this claim will be
provided so we will not have any problems. I hope that
you will keep this transaction known to only your person so
that we can maitain confidentiality until the
transaction is over.

Send me your telephone and fax number for further
instructions.

I await your urgent response. Also feel free to respond through my private
email at afzal-kamzuzu@excite.com

Regards,

Afzal kamuzu.

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam