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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: "Mr Felix Uba" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <felix_uba222@w.cn>
Date: Mon, 30 May 2011 03:57:05 +0100
Subject: Urgent Response

Attn. Beneficiary,
 
Did you authorize one Mr. Patrick Dennis  to meet us as your representative/next of kin, With documents of claim purported to have been signed by you for the release of your payment of Ten  Millions Five Hundred thousand United States Dollars ( USD10.5,000.000 )because your money has been approved already for Payment by bank cash clearing department.
 
However, we received an email from one Mr. Patrick Dennis who told us he is your Next of kin, and that you are dead. Reconfirm this to avoid  any irregularities, as your money is now ready to be transferred to you. With the instruction given to us by the Accountant General of the  Federation and the International Monitoring Fund (IMF) in collaboration with the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI) to pay all outstanding payment.
 
I wish to inform you that your payment is being processed and will be released to you as soon as you reconfirm your payment details so that we can authenticate your claim legally and release the funds to you. Mr Patrick Dennis has also submitted his account for us to transfer the fund to him. We want to hear from you before we can make the transfer to confirm if you are ALIVE. We  are hereby officially notifying you about the present arrangement to pay off your over due fund.
 
Kindly send us the below information in full, and get back to me immediately for more directives on how you will receive your payment without further delay.
 
Full Names and Address
Bank Name.
Direct Phone number
Occupation / Age
 
Call me as soon as possible on +234-703-671-6252. Your urgent response will be off immense value.
 
With Regards
Mr Felix Uba
+234-703-671-6252

Anti-fraud resources: