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: "eric li cheung" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cheungeric2006@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 23:14:44 -0000
Subject: hi

ATTN
An Iraqi made a fixed deposit of 44.5m usd in my bank branch and he died with his entire family leaving behind no next of kin,am ready to share 50/50 with you if you choose to stand as my deceased client next of kin.
Pls indicate by sending the following below to show your interest.
1.YOUR NAME
2.YOUR RESIDENT ADDRESS
3.YOUR OCCUPATION
4.YOUR PHONE NUMBER
5.DATE OF BIRTH
6.COUNTRY OF RESIDENT
Your response with the requested information should be
sent to reach me at
my personal email
address below:
cheung.eric2009@asianbusinessmail.com
Yours Truly,
Dr.Cheunge Eric Li

Anti-fraud resources: