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. BEN BERNANKE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <benbernanke101@mail.mn>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:56:54 +0100
Subject: CONTRACT FUND CREDIT FROM BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

CONTRACT FUND CREDIT FROM BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD
 
THIS IS TO CONFIRM RECEIPT OF YOUR MAIL AND ALSO PROVIDE YOU WITH DETAILS NEEDED TO RELEASE YOUR PAYMENT OF $10.5M INTO YOUR ACCOUNT, TO EFFECT THIS PAYMENT
 
YOU
ARE TO RECONFIRM YOUR DETAILS AS FOLLOW SO THAT WE CAN RELEASE TO OUR CORRESPONDING PAYING BANK WHO WILL IN TURN TRANSFER FUNDS INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.
 
YOUR FULL NAMES
YOUR HOME ADDRESS
YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER.
OCCUPATION
MARITAL STATUS
BANK INFORMATION FOR TRANSFER PAYMENT
BANK NAME
BANK ADDRESS
BANK TEL/FAX
ACCOUNT NAME
ACCOUNT NUMBER
ROUTING/SORTING NUMBER
 
YOU ARE ADVICE TO GET BACK TO US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT WE CAN COMMUNICATE OUR CORRESPONDING BANK TO EFFECT TRANSFER OF THE FUNDS TO YOUR ACCOUNT.  ALSO
FOLLOW THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THIS BANK TO ENABLE THEM REMIT THE SAID FUND TO YOU.  IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH SENDING YOUR DETAILS THROUGH MAIL
 
YOU
CAN SEND THEM THROUGH FAX WITH OUR NUMBER BELOW, AFTER DIALING WAIT FOR THE FAX TONE BEFORE YOU SEND;
FAX: 206-666-5832
 
REMAIN BLESSED AS I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE WITH UPDATE.
 
REGARDS
MR. BEN BERNANKE
FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD

Anti-fraud resources: