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: roryosmanali@sohu.com
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:48:18 GMT
Subject: From Mr Rory Osman Ali.

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Anti-fraud resources: