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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "edward wright" <cashier_147@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 21:45:57 +0000
Subject: RE:BUSINESS PROPOSITION

Attn: Please,

I am Mr. Edward Wright, a staff of a reputable bank in England. I have an urgent and very confidential business proposition for you.We had a foreign client named Mrs.Wendy Bunten , who
deposited a huge sum of money (12.5 Million United States Dollars), with the  bank i work.
Eventually, this client died in a plane crash and since her death we have not had anybody come up for the claims as the next of kin.You may want to take a look at other passangers who
were on the same plane, here is a site for your view.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/06/guam.passenger.list/
A situation I have monitored closely with my position in the bank.Now having monitored this deposit and managed it over the years before her death, and since nobody has shown up as the next of kin for the past years.I now solicit for your assistance to present you as the next of kin as every other arrangement has been concluded by me and my partners involved. I am only waiting for a foreigner to enable us move the funds to his or her account of intrest.This does not have any risk attached to it, as we have our contacts in various departments of the bank that will handle all the internal documentations.I therefore request you to confirm your interest by a
return message and I will furnish you with details and more information.
Best regards
Edward Wright.

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