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: "PETER MAYE" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:31:14 -0000
Subject: FROM PETER MAYE

Hello,
 
I would like to brief introduce my self to you, My name is Peter Maye, 24 years old.
 
My parents were killed by the president of our country because my father was an opposition leader to the new government of my country (IVORY COAST WEST AFRICA)
 
Before the death of my father, he has $5 M USD in a fixed deposit domiciliary account with a bank in Abidjan Ivory Coast, which I am the next of kin. I have tried to stay with my uncles after the death of my parents, but they have made things to be more difficult for me, since the unexpected death of my beloved parents. My uncles has been seriously chasing me around with constant treats, trying to suppress me so that I will surrender the documents of this funds deposit and trying to force me to instruct the bank to release the monies into his control. He says that if I don't cooperate with his wishes then he will kill me.
 
I humbly need your assistance in transferring this fund for investments in your country; I need your assistance to provide bank account where the funds will be transferred into. I would appreciate if you are able to travel down here to have a face to face meeting with me.
 
I am willing to offer you some commission for you effort, if you will be willing to provide me an account for this transfer, and from your willingness of cooperation we will discuss percentage I will give you when transfer is complete.
 
I would like to speak with you for more infos, please call me immediately you receive this email, my number is +22566267096             
            
 
Im looking forward to hear from you.
 
Best Regards,
 
Peter Maye.
 

Anti-fraud resources: