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: Cox Peter <coxpeter80@msn.com>
Reply-To: <coxpeterjr@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 11:57:53 +0000
Subject: Read Carfully and confidentially.



Hello Friend, I want to drop you a quick note because I did not hear back from you concerning the information I sent you the other day. In case you did not receive the letter introducing my Intent. I am Cox Peter from London . I am an account officer to Mr.Rafic Hariri,Born in Lebanon in 1944, The late Rafic Hariri was a Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon, and was five times Prime Minister of Lebanon. You can view this site for confirmation. http://www.rhariri.com/general.aspx?pagecontent=biographyI got your mail through my private search and out of desperation I decided to reach you through this medium. Mr. Rafic Hariri deposited £25,000 000.00 in a bank here in London and I want to invest this money in your country. The money was secretly moved to a bond account in Jakarta , Indonesia when the Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that some of the money held in dormant accounts would be used to fund youth and community projects. you can confirm this in the website below. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4017381.stmI am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regard. Now permit me to ask these few questions:- (1) Can I completely trust you? (2) I am ready to offer you 30% of this (£25,000 000.00) I hope it is acceptable by you? Please, consider this and get back to me as soon as possible for more detailsThank you so much. Mr. Cox Peter.

Anti-fraud resources: