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: Miss Marie Richard <cmsfrgndpt@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: missmarie.richard@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:01:43 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Bonjour chers


Bonjour chers,
 
Complément de la journée à vous, s'il vous plaît pardonnez-moi si je interférer dans votre vie privée, mon nom est Mlle Marie Richard, 24 ans, hauteur 5 pieds 11 pouces, poids 61, je suis la seule fille de feu Richard M. Franck de ABIDJAN, Côte-d'Ivoire en Afrique de l'ouest, mon père était un homme d'affaires et un politicien. J'ai observé que vous êtes une personnalité importante avant que je me suis décidé à vous contacter. S'il vous plaît j'aimerai en savoir plus sur vous, car j'ai avec moi certains fonds dont j'aimerai investir dans une entreprise bien sur il dans votre pays. Je souhaite que vous pourriez être honnête à moi pour que je peux aller dans cet investissement avec vous par mon auto et je vais aussi besoin de vos conseils bonne.
 
Tout d'abord, je tiens à savoir ce que vous faites dans la vie, rappelez-vous que vous a attiré mon attention c'est pourquoi je vous ai contacté en premier lieu. Nous saurons nous plus que nous communiquons long.
 
Merci de votre compréhension, en espérant avoir de vos nouvelles bientôt.
 
De mon coeur,
Mlle Marie Richard
Hello dear,
 
Complement of the day to you, please pardon me if i interfere into your privacy, my name is Miss Marie Richard, Age 24, height 5 ft 11 inches, weight 61, i am the only daughter of Late Mr. Franck Richard from ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast in west Africa, my father was a business tycoon and a politician. I observed you are an important personality before i made up my mind to contact you. Please i will like to know more about you because i have with me some funds which i will like to invest in a good business over there in your country. I wish you could be honest to me so that i can go into this investment with you by my self and i will also need your good advices.
 
First of all, I will like to know what you do for a living; remember you caught my attention that was why i contacted you in the first place. We will know ourselves more as we communicate along.
 
Thanks for your understanding, hoping to hear from you soon.
 
>From my heart,
Miss Marie Richard

Anti-fraud resources: