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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: "Mrs.patricia Estim" (may be fake)
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:17:05 +0100
Subject: Please Reply This Email. Very Urgent..e2

Hi
 
I have sent you this mail because of the need to open discussions with you. I don't want you to misunderstand this offer in any aspect, if it is okay with you I ask for your full cooperation. I wish to invest in your country; my interest is in a company with potentials for rapid growth in long term. What I have in mind is to invest in a company that will be paying my family (5%) from the profit made on the fund I invested with you annually.
 
I wish to invest in areas like Health care Project,Investment in Information Technology, Real estate, Biotechnology Industry, Telecommunication, Crude Oil and any other good investment areas. Please, get back to me if you are capable of handling an amount of over ($5M)five million dollars for the purpose of investments.
 
Regards,
 
Mrs.patricia Estim

Anti-fraud resources: