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.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: michael smith <michael.smith_7@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <michael.smith02@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2007 05:20:17 +0000
Subject: Investment Advise.



DEAR SIR,
THOUGH YOU DID NOT NOT KNOW ME NEITHER YOU HAVE MY RECORD.MY NAME IS MICHAEL SMITH,A REFUGEE LIBERAIAN.

I HAPPEN TO BE THE SON OF A LATE CHAIRMAN OF DIAMOND AND MINES IN MY COUNTRY BEFORE THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF MY FATHER,WHILE MY FATHER WAS ALIVE, HE AMASS WEALTH AMONG WHICH HE DEPOSITED REASONABLE SUMS IN A VAULT.THE FUND HAS SINCE BEEN LYING HERE IN GHANA.

IT IS MY DREAM TO INVEST THE FUND OUTSIDE THE SHORE OF AFRICA.UPON YOUR READINESS, I HAVE EARMARK 15% FOR YOU FOR THE EXECUTION AND 5% FOR ANY LIKELY EXPENSES YOU MAY INCUR IN THIS TRANSACTION.

I WILL BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU CAN MEET ME FACE TO FACE BEFORE THE ONWARD TRANSFER OF THE FUND TO YOUR CHOSEN DESTINATION.YOU CAN INCLUDE YOUR DIRECT NUMBER IN YOUR REPLY SO THAT I CAN TALK TO YOU ON TELEPHONE.

LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVE LONG LASTING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.
PLEASE YOU CAN WRITE ME THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL: michael.smith02@yahoo.co.uk

REGARDS,MICHAEL SMITH.
_________________________________________________________________
Play free games, earn tickets, get cool prizes! Join Live Search Club. 
http://club.live.com/home.aspx?icid=CLUB_wlmailtextlink

Anti-fraud resources: