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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: "Official" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ib_tc2@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2010 05:31:18 -0700
Subject: GOOD NEWS / CONGRATULATIONS

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY

THIS IS TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT YOUR TOTAL AMOUNT $3.7MILLION IS NOW READY TO BE RELEASE TO YOU, BUT THE ACCOUNT IS DORMANT, SO YOU NEED TO ACTIVATE IT FIRST BEFORE THE TOTAL FUND CAN BE RELEASE TO YOU, BE WELL ASSURED THAT THERE WILL BE NO OTHER UPFRONT FEE TO BE REQUIRED OF YOU, THIS NOTIFICATION WAS BROUGTH TO OUR NOTICE BY INTERNATINAL MONITORY FUND (IMF) THAT WE SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT ALL RIGHTFUL BENEFICIARY IS PAID IMMEDIATELY THE ACCOUNT IS ACTIVE FOR WITHDRAWAL, ACTIVATING OF THE ACCOUNT IS $90, HAVE THE FUND SEND VIA WESTERN UNION WITH THE ACCOUNT OFFICER BELOW, TO ENABLE US START THE ACTIVATION IMMEDIATELY.

RECEIVERS NAME: OKELEKE MICHAEL
LOCATION: LAGOS-NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION: WHAT FOR
TEST ANSWER: ACTIVATION
AMOUNT: $90

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF WE DON’T HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT 2WORKING DAYS, WE WILL HAVE YOUR FUND SEND BACK TO SUSPENSE ACCOUNT, AS SOON AS THE PAYMENT IS MADE KINDLY GET BACK TO US WITH THE PAYMENT DETAILS, SUCH AS THE MTCN NUMBERS, SENDERS NAME AND ADDRESS TO ENABLE THE RECEIVER PICK UP THE FUND, IMMEDIATELY THE PAYMENT IS CONFIRMED BY THE RECEIVER, WE WILL ACTIVATE YOUR ACCOUNT AND YOUR FUND $3.7MILLION WILL REFLECT INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN THE NEXT 6HRS AFTER PAYMENT CONFIRMATION, WE ALSO ADVICE YOU SEND YOUR ACCOUNT DETAIL, FOR VERIFICATION, TO AVOID RELEASING YOUR FUND TO A WRONG PERSON.

KINDLY TREAT THIS MESSAGE VERY URGENT AS WE AWAIT YOUR REPLY
SOONEXT.

CONGRATULATIONS.

REGARDS
HENRY IBE
DIRECTOR GURANTEE TRUST BANK.
+2347067

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