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. Vincent Cheng" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <vincentchengao1l@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:04:49 +0000
Subject: $25 000 000.00 Transfer. RESPONSE NEEDED URGENTLY.

Good Day,

I am Mr. Vincent Cheng Hoi Chuen, GBS, JP Chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. I have a sensitive, confidential brief from Hong Kong and I am asking for your partnership in transfering funds to a local bank in your country. This is a transaction of $25 000 000.00 (Twenty Five Million United States Dollars) which you will be having %40 of the share.

What I require from you is your honest co-operation and I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and I from any breach of the law. Please accept my apologies, keep my confidence and disregard this email if you do not appreciate this proposition I have offered you.

All conformable documents to back up this fund shall be made available to you, as soon as I receive your reply, I shall let you know what is required of you.

Regards.

Vincent Cheng


Anti-fraud resources: