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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.Mariam" <mrsmariamulah0011@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrsmariamulah0111@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:10:11 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: PLEASE I NEED YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE REGARDING THIS TRANSFER.




>From Mrs.Mariam Ulah,Bill and Exchange Manager,Bank of Africa- (B.O.A)Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Dear Friend,                                 VERY CONFIDENTIAL DEAL I knew that this message will come to you as a surprise; I am the Manager of Bill and Exchange at the Foreign Remittance Department in Bank of Africa (B.O.A) Ouagadougou Burkina Faso, West Africa. I hope that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to impose on you for the mutual benefit of our families. I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of (US $22.5 Million Dollars) to your account within 10 banking working days. This money has been dormant for years in our bank without any body claiming the fund. I want the bank to release the money to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer, who died along with his entire family on Saturday, 6th December, 2003 in a plane crash. Here is the Web Page regarding the Accident
that leads to his Death    http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4537663.stm
I don't want the money to go into our bank treasury account as an abandoned fund, so this is the reason why I contacted you so that the bank can release the money to you as the next of kin to the deceased. Please I will like you to keep this proposal as a top secret and delete it if you are not interested. Upon receipt of your reply, I will give you full details on how the business will be executed and also note that you will have 40% of the above mentioned sum if you agree to handle this business with me, and 60% of the total sum will be for me thereafter. Now, i look forward expecting to hear from you soonest. 1. Your full name:……….......................2. Address:…………………...................3. Nationality:……………......................4. Age:……………………….….............5. Sex:………………………….............6. Occupation:……………....................7. Marital
status:…………….................8. Phone no:………………...................9. Fax:…………………………............. Note; please I beg you with the name of God Almighty, if you cannot finish this business do not care to reply, I don't want this money to hang on the way. Best RegardsMrs.Mariam Ulah

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