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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: "Mr. Key Jefferson" <ups33332@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:05:29 +0100
Subject: Greetings

Greetings,
I have been waiting for you since to contact me for your Bank Cheque of
($1,000,000.00 USD) I did not hear from you since then, so i deposited the
Check with UPS Delivery Service in West Africa, I've travelled out of the
country. Contact UPS for the delivery of your Check immediately to avoid
reaching the expiring date. Contact them with your full names, address and
telephone numbers.

Dispatch Director
Mr. Mark Paul
Email Address: ups33331@gmail.com
Telephone Number: +TEL: +234-806-310-8023

The only money you will send to them is $265 USD, being the security
keeping fee of the company so far, I would have paid that but they said no
because they were not sure of when you will be contacting them for the
delivery should incase of demurrage. So contact them right away and
remember to send them their $265 USD for immediate action.

Regards.
Mr. Key Jefferson

Anti-fraud resources: