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: Krishna Mallick <mallick_krishna@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: mal1ick_krishna@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:55:31 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Sad News


 I hope you get this message on time,i have been involved in a robbery during my trip to London,United-Kingdom with my family.We were mugged last night in an alley by a gang of thugs on our way back from shopping,i was injured and all our belongings(cash,cellphone and credit cards) were all stolen at "Gun Point".

I have reported to the police here and canceled all our cards, it appeared I acted quickly enough or they almost would have succeeded in clearing out my bank account. I'm writing you from a local library cybercafe,am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills. Well I really need your financial assistance..

Please let me know if you can help me out?

Awaiting your prompt response

Regards,
Krishna

Anti-fraud resources: