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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: "Mr. Naoyuki Shinohara." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <selcom75@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2012 11:42:28 -0700
Subject: RE:MAKE QUICK CONTACT FOR THE RELEASE OF YOUR COMPENSATION PAYMENT!!

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
58, RUE DE MOILLEBEAU,
1209 GENEVA,SWITZERLAND
TEL: (41-22) 718 03 00,
FAX: (41-22) 718 03 03
REF.: IMF/SCMV-86769
THIS IS FOR YOUR URGENT ATTENTION

RE: YOUR COMPENSATION PAYMENT OF USD1,000,000.00.

Based on the present anti-fraud/scam war, the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) Anti-fraud team in collaboration with the African Union (AU) are
making sure that financial fraud is wiped out in the Africa continents
completely. The Internet Service Providers have noticed an increased email
traffic originating from Africa to other continents, hence the action of
the security operatives.
In this regard, three hundred and six (306) bank and government officials
have been arrested in so many African and European countries so far and
arrest is still going on. We have recovered the total sum of US$3.2
Billion from them in both cash and assets confirmed to have come from
their victims and foreign beneficiaries' of both contract funds,
inheritance funds and lottery winnings. Thousands of email addresses of
victims (which includes yours) have also been recovered from their address
books. It is at this juncture that we are contacting you because you are
now listed as one of the beneficiaries of the IMF/AU compensation payment
of 2011 batch "A".The International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the African Union (AU) are
making refunds of US$1,000,000.00 each to all foreigners whom his/her
email address is listed on the recovered address book of these arrested
fraudulent officials. This refund is of two types:-

(a) Those who are beneficiaries of either contract, inheritance or lottery
funds. (b) Those who are simply found to be scam victims, by receiving
fraudulent and scam email letters from these officials, will receive a
flat rate compensation of US$1,000,000.00 each.
Your compensation payment will be release to you through our West African
Regional Office on your contact to them as instruction for the release of
your compensation payment has already been passed to them and the issuing
bank. You have to direct your communication to our West African Regional
Office ONLY on the below information to claim your compensation payment:-

Contact Person: Mr. Andrew Tweedie
Email: selcom75@yahoo.co.jp
Telephone: +234 705 225 4443
Endeavour to send the following details required for verification and
subsequent release of your compensation payment.
===================================================

1. Full Names:..................................................
2. Address:......................................................
3. Telephone/Mobile:.....................................
4. Age and Gender:..........................................
5. Nationality:...................................................
6. Occupation:...................................................
7. Bank Name and Address:................................
====================================================
NOTE: You are hereby advised to disassociate yourself from any form of
communication with these bank and government officials mostly from African
countries and follow our guidelines.
Yours Sincerely,
Sign:
Mr. Naoyuki Shinohara.
Deputy Managing Director,
International Monetary Fund,
Geneva, Switzerland.

Anti-fraud resources: