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: "Miss. pamla" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <misspamelahswan@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 6 May 2011 10:22:33 -0700
Subject: GOOD DAY

I am Miss. Pamela h swan, I got your e-mail address through my personal search for the right person, I have will the only money left in my account to you, the reason why I willed the only money left in my account to you, will be disclosed to you as soon as you contact my lawyer and my account officer whose names and e-mail addresses will be forwarded to you as soon as you reply my mail.

Mean while I am in the hospital right now.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely, Pamela.

Anti-fraud resources: