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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: "Mahmud Yayale Ahmed" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <intercontinentalbankplc4@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2010 20:06:39 -0700
Subject: Your Fund Have Been Approved.

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY,
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,
ASOROCK VILLA ABUJA NIGERIA.
Dear Beneficiary,
This is to inform you that We Have Verified Your Payment File And Discovered the Reason You have not been able to Receive Your Payment.It Is Because Of Irregularities and Complications Discovered On your Payment File by Our Technical Experts In Respect to Your Contract/Inheritance Payment Requirements, Which Have Been Duly Rectified.
Meanwhile, We Have Been Informed that you are Still Dealing With Impostors And Non Recommended Officials In the Bank.My dear, you Must Stop such act For Security Reasons If you wish to receives Your Payment. Since We Have Decided To Bring A Solution To Your Problem, Right Now We Have Arranged Your Payment Through Our (A.T.M CARD) Swift Card Payment Center INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC (Under Reserve Bank Operation Act 2005), that is the Latest Instruction from the President Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
 
Below is the Arrangements.The Swift card Center Will Send You An (A.T.M Card) Which You Will Use To Withdrew Your Money From Any ATM Machine In Any Part Of The World,But The Maximum is five Thousand Dollars Per Day ($5,000), So If You wish to Receive Your Fund This Way Please Do Let Us Know By Contacting The Card Payment Center INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC On this Email (intercontinentalbankplc4@gmail.com )  And Also Send The Following Information To The Swift Card Center:
1 Your Phone number And Fax Number,
2 Address Where You Want Them To Send The Card Through Diplomatic Courier Service (P.O box Not Accepted)
3 Your Full Name And
Total Amount (2.5MUSD).
Instead Of Losing Your Funds.Please Indicate To The Card Center The Total Sum You Are Expecting And Forward Your Information.You Have To Stop Any Further Communication With Any Institution Or Office Until You Receive The (A.TM Card).Note: Because of Impostors, We Hereby Issue You Our Code of Conduct Tag Number Which is (805) So You Must Have To Indicate This Code When Contacting The Card Center.
We Await Your Urgent Response.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr.Mahmud Yayale Ahmed ,
secretary to the Federal
Government of Nigeria.(SGF)
E-mail address:ssecretary@presidency.com

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