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: "Nelson Williams" <nelconsultant@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: nelsonwilliam@albawaba.com
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:00:44 +0000
Subject: I Need Your Service.

Good day,

I sincerely apologise for sending this unsolicited mail. I need your
services/partnership in a confidential matter regarding entrusting some
money in your care.

This requires a private arrangement and it’s totally risk free. You will
receive these funds under legal claims, as all legal documents will be
carefully worked out to ensure a legitimate and hitch free transfer.

I am willing to pay a generous management fee or rather let you share from
the funds upon conclusion of the transaction. All the details will be made
available upon the receipt of a positive reply from you.

All correspondences will be via my private email address for now
(nelsonwilliam@albawaba.com). The funds in question are quite large. I’m
expecting a straight reply from you so we can work out the modalities.

Thanks,
Nelson William.



--

Anti-fraud resources: