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: "Cpt Jarvis Maxwell Reeves Jr" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <elenaudoabia@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:10:46 +0100
Subject: VERY URGENT SIR

Cpt Jarvis Maxwell Reeves Jr,
of D Company, 2nd Battalion,
22nd Infantry Regiment

Good day,
I am Cpt Jarvis Maxwell Reeves Jr, an American Soldier. I am serving in the US Army of D Company, 2nd Battalion 22nd,Infantary Regiment, Iraq.As you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs.I and my crew members discovered $650M USD in Saddam Hussein's palace in April 2003. We managed to move away a total sum US$25 Million dollars cash out from the $650M USD, mostly 100-dollar bills and was quickly flown out of the warzone and deposited in an undisclosed security company in Caracas,Venezuela. You can click on the site for more details about the funds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm
Unfortunately, the rest of my crew members have lost their lives to the wicked Iraqi insurgents. I therefore seek your partnership to assist me transfer these funds into your account and invest the funds without further delay.I will take 65% while you take the other 30% and 5% will be for expenses, no strings.If you are interested I will send you the full details but my fear is Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers in order to forward to the security firm for the release of the funds in your names or your company.
Respectfully,

Cpt Jarvis Maxwell Reeves Jr.

Anti-fraud resources: