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: "Mrs. Helen Wong" <mislam@btcl.net.bd>
Reply-To: helenwong011@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Sun, 9 Oct 2011 06:40:42 +0600 (BDT)
Subject:




Greetings to you,

I am Mrs.Helen Wong, from Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. (China)I
have a business proposal of USD$30,000,000 (Thirty Million United States
Dollars Only)for you to transact with me from my bank, which would be
deposited in your name and transferred by you to your country.

All confirmable documents to back up the claims will be made available to
you prior to your acceptance and as soon as I receive your return mail via
my email address: helenwong011@yahoo.co.jp and I will let you know what is
required of you.

Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Mrs. Helen Wong


Anti-fraud resources: