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: Chang Wah <snzau@mespt.org>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 21:51:05 +0100
Subject: TT Payment



Find attached Swift copy of payment made to your account

kindly confirm it and release BL for us

The BL is needed asap.

Yours Sincerely

Chang Wah
Website: http://www.mespt.org and http://www.microfinancetrust.org

[MESPT]

This email (and any attachments thereto) is intended for the original addressess only. It may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information and should not be copied or otherwise transmitted to any other person. The sender shall not be responsible for breach of any confidentiality or other legal duty arising from any mis-transmission or other inadvertence. If you receive this message in error, please immediately destroy it and notify the sender. You must not, directly or indirectly, use, disclose, distribute, print, or copy any part of this message if you are not the intended recipient.

Anti-fraud resources: