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: "Larry Johnson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ljohnsonus@globomail.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2012 11:37:15 -0800
Subject: CAN I TRUST YOU?

Hi,
My name is Larry Johnson, i am the Director Inspection Unit United Nations Inspection Agent. We are currently in Hartsfield International Airport Atlanta Georgia for official inspection while i discovered An abandoned shipment from UK via Diplomat with your name tagged on it, when i personally scanned it, it revealed an undisclosed sum of money in a Metal Trunk Box weighing approximately 65kg each.On my assumption, each of the boxes will contain more that $4M or above in each on further investigation, i discovered that The consignment was abandoned due to wrong declearation of the content, also the Diplomat inability to pay for Non Inspection Fees.
As it stands, i want to use my good office to process the document, pay the non inspection fee on your behalf and deliver he boxes to your address by myself for mutual benefit, on the condition that you will give me 30% of the total fund contained in the boxes upon delivery. All communication must be held extremely confidential. I can get everything concluded within 24 to 48 hours and proceed to your address for delivery upon your acceptance. But i must get assurance from you concerning my 30% before i will proceed. Do get back to me through my private email: larryjohnsonus@gmail.com
Best Regards,
Larry Johnson
 

Anti-fraud resources: