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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: IMF <imf@imf.gov>
Reply-To: unpdfunds@aboutimf.com
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:05:58 +0200
Subject: IMF PENDING PAYMENT

Attn: Fund Owner,
Your name and email was found (in the Central Computer among the list of unpaid contractors, inheritance, next of

kin and lottery beneficiaries that originated from America, Europe, Asia Plus Middle east and Africa, among the list

of individuals and companies that your unpaid fund has been allocated to the FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK.USA

for prompt payment. Your email appeared among the beneficiaries, who will receive a part-payment of your contractual

sum of ($10 Million United States Dollars) and it have been approved already for months.
However, we received an email from one Mr. Austin Gin who told us that he is your next of kin and that you died in

an accident last week. We want to hear from you before we can make the transfer to confirm if you are dead or not?

Please if you are still alive, kindly furnish us with below information to unpdfunds@aboutimf.com
Your Full Name.........................................
Address.......................................................
Country..................................................
Age.................
Occupation............................................
Telephone Number..................................
Once again, I apologize to you on behalf of International Monetary Fund (IMF) for failure to pay your funds in time,

which according to records in the system had been long overdue. I wait to hear from you soonest.
Regards,


Rev John
Office of the IMF London,
United Kingdom.


Anti-fraud resources: