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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "MRS. MARY FLETCHER" <adil.numan@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: foreignpayfund@yahoo.co.jp
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2012 14:49:32 +0100 (BST)
Subject: 60 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS


BENEFICIARY SIR/MADAM,

THIS IS TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT YOUR
ATM DEBIT CARD WORTH THE SUM OF $15.5 MILLION US DOLLARS HAS BEEN ISSUED
FOR RELEASE AND FORWARDED TO MY DESK FOR ONWARD DELIVERY TO YOU TODAY.

HOWEVER
THE ONLY THING THAT IS REQUIRED FROM YOU IS YOUR PRESENT POSTAL
ADDRESS, YOUR DIRECT WORKING TELEPHONE NUMBER(S) WHICH THE DELIVERY
PERSONNEL WILL CALL YOU WITH UPON THERE ARRIVAL AT YOUR HOME AND YOUR
INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LICENSE FOR PROPER IDENTIFICATION AT
THE POINT OF DELIVERY.

NOTE VERY IMPORTANTLY YOUR DEBIT CARD WILL
BE VALID FOR TWO YEARS AND YOU CAN DOWN LOAD TO CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT
BALANCE, PAY FOR GOODS AND SERVICES FROM ANY ATM MACHINE, PAY FOR YOUR
GOODS AND SERVICES ONLINE FROM ANY PART OF THE WORLD.

GET THIS DETAILS FORWARDED TO US IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS E-MAIL NOW FOR ONWARD DISPATCH HANDLING OF YOUR ATM DEBIT CARD.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MRS. MARY FLETCHER.
OFFICE OF THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT
FOREIGN RESERVE.

NB: YOUR LIMIT OF WITHDRAWAL IS US$60,000.00 PER DAY.

Anti-fraud resources: