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: "Mr James Knight." <westernunionbeninrepublic20@gmail.com>
Reply-To: usembassy2011@rocketmail.com
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:06:09 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS






















              

Greeting from U.S Embassy,
 
THIS MAIL IS ONLY FOR THE OWNER OF THIS E-MAIL
ADDRESS
 
ATTENTION: 
 
 
Please i want to inform you that your fund was brought to
my  desk this morning because that  the director of the western union here in
benin
republic said that they will divert your fund to the government treasuries
account just because that you refused to pay for the transfer fee
of your fund  which is $98 but i told them to wait until i hear from you today
so  that i will know the reason why you rejected such amount of money $2.5
millions which will change your life just because of $98.
 
I want your urgent response as soon as you receive this
email and tell me the reason why you have abandon your fund or if you don't need
it then i can change your name to another person so that their government will
not claim this money.
 
Please you should get back to me with this contact
information and i will tell you where you should send the $98 if you are really
intrested.
 

Your Full name .....................
Your country and
city........................
Your home address
...........................
Your private phone
number.........................
Your age ........sex........ occupation
 
 Contact me through this email address usembassy2011@rocketmail.com

I will wait for your urgent response 
 

                                                      
 Mr James Knight.
United States
Ambassador to the Republic of
Benin

Anti-fraud resources: