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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: "GEN. MIKE DONYA" <mikedonya@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 16:19:27 +0100
Subject: RE: NATIONAL INVESTIGATION HERE IN FEDERAL

*
*
*
*
*
*
*ATTENTION:SIR/MADAM.*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*I WILL USE THIS SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE MY SELF TO YOU, I AM
GENERAL MIKE DONYA FROM THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL INVESTIGATION HERE IN
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, LAGOS STATE.*
*
*
*THIS AFTERNOON,WE APPREHENDED 9 INTERNET SCAMMERS AT THE GLOBAL-LINK
INTERNET CAFE HERE IN LAGOS NIGERIA,IMMEDIATE THE BOYS SAW US THEY STARTED
RUNNING,SO FAR SO GOOD,WE WERE ABLE TO APPREHEND 9 OF THE SCAMMERS.*
*
*
*ONE OF THEM WAS WRITING YOU AS A REFUGEE,4 OF THEM WAS IMPERSONATING
WESTERN UNION OFFICE AND ANOTHER WAS IMPERSONATING UBA BANK AND
INTERCONTINENTAL BANK,ONE WAS WRITING TO ANOTHER FOREIGN BENEFICIARY AS A
BARRISTER,ANOTHER WAS IMPERSONATING THE DHL EXPRESS DELIVERY AND THE OTHER
WAS USING THE NAME OF THE NIGERIA ECONOMICAL AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION
(EFCC) THE LAST ONE WAS IMPERSONATING THE ECO BANK BANK.*
*
*
*AS I WRITE YOU NOW,NINE OF THEM ARE NOW AT THE NIGERIA CENTRAL POLICE
STATION (LAGOS STATE ) BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO FACE THE LAW AND THEY MUST BE
DEALT WITH.WHILE 5 OTHERS ARE ON THE RUN,AMONG THE PEOPLE THAT RAN AWAY,WE
FOUND OUT THEIR EMAIL WRITING YOU AS ZENITH BANK AND BARRISTER AFTER MUCH
CONFIRMATION OF THE VERIFICATION OF YOUR TRANSACTION HERE IN
NIGERIA,STATISTICS HAVE SHOWN THAT 90% OF THE PEOPLE YOU ARE TRANSACTING
WITH HERE IN AFRICA ARE SCAMMERS.*
*
*
*WE HAVE FOUND OUT THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF SCAMMERS BARRISTERS,WESTERN
UNION,MONEY GRAM,IMPOSTORS BANKS AND EVEN GROWNUP MEN THAT ARE CALLING
FOREIGN BENEFICIARIES AS A SON ALL IN THE NAME TO SCAM MONEY FROM GOOD
FOREIGN BENEFICIARY LIKE YOU.*
*
*
*YOU ARE ADVISED FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT TO START FORWARDING ALL THE EMAILS
THAT YOU RECEIVE FROM NIGERIA/ GHANA/ AND ALL OTHER PART AFRICA TO ME SO
THAT I MAKE SURE THOSE SCAMMERS ARE PUT BEHIND BARS AND TO PROTECT YOU
AGAINST ANY SCAM TRICK.*
*
*
*I WANT TO USE THIS MEDIUM TO INFORM YOU THAT IF THERE ARE ANY VERIFICATION
YOU WANT TO CARRY ON, YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON MY EMAIL BY FORWARDING TO ME
THE EMAIL SO THAT I CAN VERIFY THEM FOR YOU OR IF YOU NEED THE VERIFICATION
TO BE DONE SECRETLY,THAT IS MY AREA OF SPECIALIZATION.*
*
*
*I NOW LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR POSITIVE RESPOND REGARDING THIS MATTER AS WE
HOPE FOR A BETTER NIGERIA CAPABLE ATTENTION TO ALL YOUR TRANSACTION.*
*
*
*NOTICE: THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL INVESTIGATION (BNI) NETWORK IS LINK TO ANY
SECURITY ORGANIZATION ALL OVER THE WORLD THAT CAN HELP YOU TRACK SCAMMER`S,
WE WILL BE SINCERELY ADVISED YOU NOT TO IGNORE THIS EMAIL BECAUSE IT WILL
HELP YOU TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH IN ALL YOUR TRANSACTIONS IN
AFRICA AND ALL OVER THE WORLD, DON`T LOST YOUR MONEY TO SCAMMER`S THE
BUREAU OF NATIONAL INVESTIGATION CAN ASSIST TO TRACK THOSE WHO SCAM YOU AND
HELP YOU REFUND ALL YOUR LOST FUNDS BACK TO YOU. *
*
*
*
*
*REGARDS:*
*GEN. MIKE DONYA *
*BUREAU OF NATIONAL INVESTIGATION (BNI)*
*LAGOS- NIGERIA. *
*
................................................................................................................................................................................................................
*
*The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) is the internal intelligence
agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria . BNI is an integral part of the
National Security Council which oversees matters of the counterintelligence
and security of Nigeria both internal security and external security
including SCAM. The BNI has investigative jurisdiction to arrest or detain
and interrogate over a wide range of criminal offenses. Among the duties of
the BNI are dealing with organized crime and financial crime, and providing
intelligence to counter threats to Nigeria national security. The BNI is
legally a creature of, The Security and Intelligence Agencies Act (Act 526)
1996, having been continued in existence by Section 10 of that Act. The BNI
has undisclosed offices in all the Thirty Six States of Nigeria and
internationally.*

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