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"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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: mrvan.mayor@yahoo.com.hk (may be fake)
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 09:02:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?RG8gbm90aWZ5IG1lIHlvdXIgaW50ZXJlc3TigKYgaGFzIHNlbnQgeW91IGEgbWU=?= =?UTF-8?B?c3NhZ2UgZnJvbSBTdG9sbCBCZXJuZSBMYXd5ZXJz?=

Do notify me your interest… thought you would like to see the Stoll Berne Lawyers web site.
Message from Sender:

Good luck, I am Mr. Van Mayor, sitting as a financial advisory of my client, who is willing to invest with huge amount of $57.4M (USD) in Real-Estates, Agriculture, Oil sectors or in any other good fruitful business... She has advised me that once I get someone who has a good proposal that I should further with the person and strike up a lucrative deal... The issue is that my client lost her husband some time ago and due to the Arab religion and protocols, She was accused of a masterminding the plans that lead to the execution of her Late husband... This is part of the husband’s investment capital, which she is trying to Transfer to some offshore partner who can invest in a lucrative business, while she battles for her release... She is willing to give out 25% of these total Funds to who ever that she strikes deal with and then invest the other part with the person and share 10% equity from the proceeds of the business to the Individual as well... Get back to me with your business plans and on acceptance of this Offer i shall fully details you the way forward... YOUR FULL NAME……………….……..COUNTRY /ADD……….…………….TEL…………………... Reply here (mr_vanmayor@yahoo.com.hk) for you immediate response: _ Yours Sincerely, Van Mayor

Jennifer Wagner is a litigation associate who practices in the areas of complex business, employment, securities, and class action litigation.

She is a member of the Oregon State Bar, the Multnomah Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association.


Anti-fraud resources: