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: merry merry <garba4u_merry@yahoo.co.uk>
Reply-To: merrymerry4111@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:55:23 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Hello MY Dear friend


Hello MY Dear friend
It is nice and joyful to find your pro here today.How are you,I thought is beautiful to make you a friend in this regard.My name is Merry .I am a female. My friends tell me that I am a quiet person with a good sense of humor.I am always fair, straightforward, honest and easy going and I seek trust worthy friendship. I believe in giving and taking on both sides and i value faithfulness.I like people for what they are and not for what they are not.Please I want to be your friend, and let share whatever we have in friendship, I will Like you to write back to my Email Address so that i will explain More about me:And send to you    a picture of myself,
      
      Find my profile;
       
       Height: 174 cm 5' 7
        Weight: 60 kg 148 lbs
        Waist: 24"
        Eyes: Brown
        Hair: Black
        Marital Status: Single
        Kids: No kids
        Languages spoken: Fluent English

        Return email to my id:(merrymerry4111@yahoo.com)

        Yours truly
      Merry


Anti-fraud resources: