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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: "Saeed Ahmed" <info@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: honpedro@live.com
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:35:17 +0800
Subject: Dear friend, reply with honesty.



Hello,
My name is Saeed Ahmed. I have a touching story of hope and self
realisation to tell you. I am an oil-servicing equipment merchant, from
Dubai, U.A.E, diagnosed with chronic Esophageal cancer in July 2009.

I am a very rich man, so please do not think of this letter as one of
those being sent around to ask for money later on. In the past one year i
have been donating my money, to charity organizations in Malaysia, and
India. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, i cannot do this
myself anymore. I once asked two members of my family to close one of my
accounts and distribute the money to charity organizations in Bulgaria and
Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not
trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contented with what I have left
for them.

The last bulk consignment of my money which is unknown to anyone, is the
huge cash deposit of twenty million dollars $20,000,000,00 that I have
with a finance security company abroad. I need you to help me collect this
deposit and distribute it to charity organizations to help earthquake
victims in Haiti, and people suffering elsewhere in the world. I have set
aside 10% for your time and service. I do not need this money anymore as i
have a short time to live.

Please reply me with honesty as soon as you receive this email. God be
with you. You can reach me on honpedro@live.com

Saeed Ahmed

Anti-fraud resources: