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: "MRS.MERCY BAILEY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <bobsmithft@gmx.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 03:10:09 +0330
Subject: READ CAREFULLY AND CONTACT GLS SECURITY COMPANY

ATTN:READ CAREFULLY AND CONTACT GLS SECURITY COMPANY
   
    I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU SINCE TO COME DOWN HERE AND PICK YOUR FUNDS OF ($800,000.00) WHICH MY BOSS ASKED ME TO REMIT TO YOU FOR YOUR COMPENSATION AS SOON AS YOU REQUEST FOR IT, BUT I DID NOT HEAR FROM YOU SINCE THAT TIME. THEN I WENT AND DEPOSITED THE MONEY WITH A COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN USA TO AVOID LOOSING THE FUNDS, AND THE NAME OF THE COMPANY IS GLS COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY.
   
    I WILL BE OUT OF THE COUNTRY FOR A 6 MONTHS COURSE AND I WILL NOT COME BACK TILL LATER IN THE YEAR. CONTACT THE COURIER SERVICE/SECURITY COMPANY WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
   
    YOUR FULL NAME:………………………....….....YOUR DELIVERY ADDRESS:……….................REACHABLE PHONE NUMBER:………....……...COPY OF YOUR IDENTITY...............................
   
    ASK THEM TO DELIVER YOUR PACKAGE TO YOUR ADDRESS. I HAVE PAID FOR THE DELIVERING CHARGES. THE ONLY MONEY YOU HAVE TO SEND TO THEM IS THEIR SECURITY KEEPING FEE WHICH IS $450 US DOLLARS TO RECEIVE YOUR PACKAGE WHICH WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOU BY A DIPLOMAT WHO HAVE BEEN PAID BY ME.
   
    BELOW IS THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS:
   
    MR. BOB SMITH
    bobsmithft@gmx.com
   
    PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SEND THIS NEEDED INFORMATIONS TO THE DIRECTOR GENERAL GLS COMPANY WORLD WILD MR. BOB SMITH. WITH THE ADDRESS GIVEN TO YOU.NOTE. THE GLS COMPANY HERE DON'T KNOW THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX FOR I REGISTERED IT AS A DAMEGES JEANS AND TEXTILE MATERIALS RETURNING TO THE RETAILER.
   
    NOTE: THE COMPANY DON'T KNOW THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX IS MONEY.
   
    PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TO KNOW THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOX IS MONEY TO AVOID THEM FROM DELAYING THE DELIVERY OF THE $800,000.00.
   
    TRY TO CONTACT THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID INCREASING THE SECURITY KEEPING FEE AND ALSO GIVE THEM YOUR CONTACT DELIVERING ADDRESS TO AVOID ANY MISTAKE ON THE DELIVERING. LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS.
   
    YOURS SINCERELY,
    MERCY BAILEY.
    SECRETARY.

Anti-fraud resources: