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: "Azri Abdul" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <azriabdul2@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Wed, 2 May 2012 17:37:49 +0100
Subject: Goodday

Dear friend,
I am contacting you in respect of an investment proposal in your country. I am a government official here in Malaysia and due to the banking tradition of my country, any civil servant that is holding any key position is forbidden to operate any business overseas or even to own a foreign account. That is why I require your assistance:
I am using this opportunity to partner with you to transfer US$6.5 million United States dollars into your bank account for investment purpose. The above sum resulted from an over-invoiced contract, executed, commissioned and paid for about five (5) years ago by a foreign contractor.
Kindly send me your contact details to enable us proceed urgently. As soon as I hear from you I will send you my personal information. Feel free and Contact me via my private email - for more details:
Best Regards
Mr. Azri Abdul

Anti-fraud resources: