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"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: "UNITED STATE AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <unitedstateambassadortonigeria@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2012 14:01:51 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY .

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY .
 
I AM MR. TERENCE P. MCCULLEY, UNITED STATE AMBASSADOR TO NIGERIA, JUST IN
CASE YOU DON’T KNOW ME, I WANT YOU TO CLICK THIS WEBSITE FOR MORE
INFORMATION ABOUT ME: http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/biography.html
 
THE UNITED STATES EMBASSY HAS RESOLVED ON A DIPLOMATIC MISSION TO NIGERIA
ON-BEHALF OF 100 SCAM VICTIMS TO BE COMPENSATED AFTER POLICE ARRESTED SOME
FRAUDSTERS IN LAGOS NIGERIA WHO MENTIONED YOUR PARTICULARS AS ONE OF THE
VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCES.
 
NOTE THAT AFTER MY MEETING WITH DR. GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, PRESIDENT
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AND OTHER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBERS,
WORLD BANK, UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), THEY
AGREED TO PAY YOU 5,000,000.00 (FIVE MILLION US AMERICAN DOLLARS ONLY) AS
YOUR COMPENSATION.
 
CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR NAME WERE AMONG THE LIST TO BE PAID 5M US DOLLARS
COMPENSATION PAYMENT.
 
ON YOUR ATTACHMENT FILE IS MY WORKING IDENTITY AND THE PICTURES OF THOSE
FRAUDSTERS THAT WAS ARRESTED IN LAGOS NIGERIA BY THE POLICE.
 
SO RE-CONFIRM BELOW INFORMATION SO THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ANY MISTAKE:
 
1) YOUR FULL NAME: ---------------
2) YOUR CURRENT HOUSE ADDRESS: ---
3) CURRENT DIRECT TELEPHONE: -------------
4) OCCUPATION & AGE: -------------
 
AS SOON AS I RECEIVE THE INFORMATION, I WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO DO TO
RECEIVE YOUR PAYMENT WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY.
 
GET BACK TO ME IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO SPEND HERE IN
NIGERIA.
 
CALL ME WITH THIS NUMBER FOR MORE INFORMATION: +234-70-6747-8948
 
CONGRATULATION.
 
MY BEST REGARDS.
MR. TERENCE P MCCULLEY
Ambassador Terence P. MCCulley.
+234-70-6747-8948
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: (unitedstateambassadortonigeria@gmail.com)
 

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