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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: johnmark4@freenet.de
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:57:05 +0100
Subject: DEAREST FRIEND


DEAREST FRIEND
I AM VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT
MY SUCCESS IN
GETTING THAT FUND TRANSFERED. NOW I WANT YOU TO CONTACT MY
SECRETERY ON
THE INFORMATION BELOW AND RECEIVE YOUR COMPENSATION OF
$1.2.000.000 US
DOLLARS FROM HIM:
NAME....: Mr TOBEFATA JAMES
EMAIL:
(tobefatajames22@yahoo.fr)
SEND HIM THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO PROVE
YOURSELF TO HIM:
YOUR FULL NAME;...............................
YOUR
ADDRESS:.................................
YOUR
COUNTRY:................................
YOUR
AGE:........................................
YOUR
OCCUPATION:................................
YOUR PHONE
NUMBER:.............................

NOTE THAT IF YOU DID NOT SEND HIM
THE ABOVE INFORMATION COMPLETE, HE
WILL NOT RELEASE THE CHEQUE TO YOU
BECAUSE HE HAS TO BE SURE THAT IT IS
YOU.ASK HIM TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL
SUM OF$1.2.000. 000 US DOLLARS
CASHIER\'S CHEQUE, WHICH I KEPT FOR
YOU.

NOTE ALSO THAT I WILL NOT BE REACHED BY EMAIL OR PHONE FOR NOW

BECAUSE I AM CORRENTLY AWAY FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSE WITH MY SHARE AND I

WILL BE BUSY TILL ABOUT SIX MONTHS TIME OR A YEAR.
NAME....: TOBEFATA
JAMES
EMAIL: (tobefatajames22@yahoo.fr)
REGARDS,
Dr,JOhn mark







Anti-fraud resources: