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: valerieuwagi@ymail.com
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 07:13:59 -0800 (PST)
Subject: ESPNsoccernet.com:AZ does it

This is a message from ESPNsoccernet.com sent to you by:

MY DEAREST BELOVED FRIEND FRIEND I AM MRS VALERIE FROM SOLOMON ISLAND I AM MARRIED TO MR UWAGI WHO WORK WITH OUR EMBASSY IN IVORY COAST FOR NINE YEARS BEFOR HE DIE IN 2006.WERE WE MARRIED FOR ELEVE? YEARS WITHOUT A CHILD HE DIED AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS THAT LAST FOR ONLY FOUR DAYS .BEFOR HIS DEATH.WE WER BOTH BORN AGAINE CHRISTAINE. SINCE HIS DEATH I DECIDED NOT TO REMARRY OR GET A CHILD OUTSID ME MATRIMONIA HOME WHICH THE BIBLE IS AGAINST WHEN MY LATE HUSBAND WAS ALIVE HE DEPOSTED WITH ONE BIG TRUNK BOX WHICH CONTAINE TOTAL SUM OF USD$7.5MILLION SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED UNITED STATE DOLLARS WITH TRUNK BOX OF A LLUVIAL GOLD DUST 1 TON 240 KG 24 KARAT TO ABIDJAN COTE D IVOIRE IN WEST AFRICA WERE HE DEPOSTED THE CONSIGNMENT IN A INERNATIONAL SECURITY COMPANY HER IN COTE D IVOIRE.UNDER A SECRET ARRANGEMENT AS A FAMILLY TREASURE. THIS MEANS THAT THE SECURITY DIPLOMATIC DO NOT KNOW THE CONTENT THE BOX DEPOSTED IN THERE OFFICE HER.ABIDJAN UNDER A DILPOMATIC COVERAGE.PLEASE IT IS MY PLEASURE TO ACQUAINT YOU WITH THIS PROPOSAL FOR THE PURPOSE OF INVESTMENT IN YOUR COMPANY . NOW I WANT YOU TO DO ME A FAVOUR TO RECEIVE THIS FUND THERE IN YOUR CONUTRIE OR ANY SAFETY PLACE .RECENTLY MY DOCTOR TOLD ME THAT WOULD NOT LAST FOR THE NXT EIGHT MONTHS DUE TO MY CANCER PROBLEM .HE HAVE KNOW MY CONDITION I DECIEDED TO DONATE THIS FUND TO A CHURCH ORGANIZATION OR GOOD PERSON CAN HANDLE THIS MISSION FOR ME OR WILL UTILZE THIS MONEY THE WAY I AM GOING TO INSTRUCT HER.I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU IN NEXT MAIL I WILL GIVE MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE TRANSFER YOUR MISS VALERIE UWAGI
valerieuwagi@ymail.com

I thought you might enjoy this story from ESPNSoccernet.com.

AZ does it
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=412720

Anti-fraud resources: