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: MRS MARY SAMUEL <marysamuelmrs@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: lotteryagentsuzan1@yahoo.es
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 13:25:51 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Your Prize


Customer Service
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369

We happily announce to you the draw of the UK-LOTTO Sweepstake
Lottery International program held on 2nd APRIL 2008
In LEEDS UNITED KINGDOM
Your e-mail address was attached to ticket number: 564
75600545 188 and Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:
02-06-21-23-43-47-29
Which subsequently won you the lottery in the 2nd Category
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
US$854,000 (Eight hundred and fifty four Thousand United States
Dollars)
To file for your claim, Please contact our fiduciary agent:

MRS JUDITH ELLIOT
judithelliotmrs@yahoo.de

You can go to our online result site to confirm the
Value of your
Winnings and also get a prize breakdown: -

Thank you for being part of our promotional lottery program.
Sincerely,

MARY SAMUEL
UK-LOTTO CO-ORDINATOR

---------------------------------
Yahoo! for Good helps you make a difference

Anti-fraud resources: