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: Santander UK plc <service@santander-online.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 09:16:02 -0700
Subject: Santander Online Service : Your Current Account Status

Introducing Santander Online Banking Security Modules
Message:
Dear Valued Santander Customer

We are pleased to announce the launch of Santander Online Banking Security Modules.

Our online banking security modules helps you to better protect your online accounts than ever before.

It's simple to get started. Just register for this service by securing your account

We recommend all online banking users to upgrade their account to this service

Secure My Account

Yours sincerely,

Santander UK plc

* Note - You do not need to download any application once you have registered for our security module.

Anti-fraud resources: