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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.

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. Ryan James" <mailler22@johnnnymails.com>
Reply-To: ryanjames201@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:03:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir/Madam,





I need an urgent attention to this matter, please do not shrug it off as unimportant......




I am an accountant by profession based in London and act as a private
consultant to some of my international clients ranging from top
businessmen, serving and retired Army personnel and top government
functionaries whose privacy are utmost at all times.




As stated above I have a client's mandate to seek for a reputable, and
well-established individual to help channel some funds into profitable
investment abroad. The proposed fund is over $12m United States dollars
and he is specific in investing these funds outside the UK. I hope you
will treat this with expediency as time is of great importance to my
client.





Thank You,

Mr. Ryan James


Anti-fraud resources: