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: "FirstAlert@firstbanknigeria.com" (may be fake)
Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:38:22 +0200
Subject: FIRST BANK INTERNET BANKING UPGRADE

New Page 1


Dear Valued Customer

Upgrading of your internet banking its important
to us. This upgrading is to protect your online
account from fraudulent activity, hacking, spamming and hijacking of your
online account whenever your conducting any transaction
via your internet banking.

Note we will not be liable of any loss that may arise from not upgrading your account.

CLICK HERE To upgrade your online account.

 

Note that your account will be terminated if you fail to upgrade your internet banking profile now.

Thanks for Banking with us.
 

Anti-fraud resources: