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: "Mr. William Stevenson" <info@williamstevenson.com>
Reply-To: mrwilliamstevenson@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:22:48 -0300
Subject: Message From Mr. William Stevenson

Dear friend,

I am William Stevenson and i have been diagnosed with Esophageal cancer It
has defied all forms of medical treatment, and Right now, I have only
about a few months to live and I want you to Distribute my funds to
charities. I have set side 40% for you and your family keep this secret to
yourself.

Reply me via my private email: william_stevenson342@hotmail.com

yours truly
Mr. William Stevenson


Anti-fraud resources: