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: "UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnmba_1958@terra.es>
Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 23:11:02 +0200
Subject: IN LOVE AND LIGHT.

How are you today? Hope all is well with you and your family?,You may not understand why this mail came to you. We have been having a meeting for the passed 7 months which ended 2 days ago with the the secretary to the UNITED NATIONS This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world,the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of USD $500,000 (Five hundred thousand United State Dollars Only).
This includes every foreign contractors that may have not received their contract sum, and people that had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc.
We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this have been agreed upon and have been signed. You are advised to contact Rev. John Mba, he is our representative in Nigeria because most scam artist have there root in Nigeria therefore, Contact him immediately for your Cheque of USD$ 500,000 (Five hundred thousand United State Dollars Only).
This funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose ok? so he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice. Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your current mailing address where you want him "Rev. John Mba" to send the Draft to .Contact him immediately for your Cheque via his direct mail id as stated below. Email: johnmba1958@terra.es
Thanks and God bless you and your family Hoping to hear from you as soon as you cash your Bank Draft.
U.N, Making the world a better place.
Regards,
Mr. Tan Chong Kong.

Anti-fraud resources: