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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: "F.M.F" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fmf0649@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 08:23:45 -0800
Subject: YOUR ATM VISA CARD

FROM THE DESK OF: FEDERAL MINISTRY
OF FINANCE BOARD MEMBER FMF
ABUJA NIGERIA.
 
ATTENTION: DEAR BENEFICIARY,
 
HOW ARE YOU DOING?
 
WE HAVE RECEIVED THE EXPRESS MANDATE AND INSTRUCTIONS, UNDER THE UNITED
NATIONS SCAM VICTIMS REHABILITATION SCHEME, AFTER A SERIOUS MEETING WITH
THE TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SINCE LAST MONTH REGARDING YOUR
CONTRACT/WINING LOTTERY/INHERITANCE FUND IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT YOU ARE TO
BE PAID THE SUM OF $3 MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS ONLY.
 
WE ALSO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR  PAYMENT HAS BEEN PROGRAMMED THROUGH ATM VISA
CARD ON YOUR NAME, YOU CAN NOW MAKE WITHDRAWAL OF $5,000 DOLLARS EACH DAY
UNTIL YOU REACH THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF $50,000 WHICH IS THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT
PER DAY AS SOON AS YOUR ATM  VISA CARD IS BEEN DELIVERED TO YOU.
 
HOWEVER, IT IS THE PLEASURE OF THIS OFFICE TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR ATM
VISA CARD NUMBER IS 4628-1234-5678-9010; IT HAS BEEN APPROVED AND UPGRADED IN
YOUR FAVOUR. MEANWHILE, YOU HAVE TO CALL ME ON MY DIRECT LINE
+234-8087275248 FOR YOUR SECRET PIN NUMBER BECAUSE I CAN NOT GIVE IT TO
YOU THROUGH INTERNET. NOTE THAT A MAXIMUM WITHDRAWAL VALUE PER DAY IS
$50,000 USD, IT IS THE AMOUNT PERMITTED DAILY. AND WE ARE DULY
INTER-SWITCHED WORLD WILD AND YOU CAN MAKE WITHDRAWAL IN ANY LOCATION OF
THE ATM CENTER OF YOUR CHOICE/NEAREST TO YOU. THE ATM VISA CARD HAVE BEEN
SECURELY SEALED AND PACKED FOR SECURITY REASONS WHICH MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE
FOR ANYONE TO VIEW IT UNTIL ITS BEEN DELIVERED RIGHT AT YOUR DOOR-STEP.
 
FURTHERMORE, YOU ARE ADVISED TO QUICKLY RECONFIRM BACK TO US THE BELOW
DETAILS TO ENABLE US CROSS CHECK WHAT WE HAVE IN OUR FILE BEFORE YOUR
FINAL DELIVERY WILL BE MADE TO YOU.
 
YOUR FULL NAME................
YOUR ADDRESS..................
YOUR AGE..............................
OCCUPATION.........................
TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBER..........
 
NOTE, ALL YOUR FUND LEGAL DOCUMENTS HAS BEEN RECEIVED TOGETHER WITH YOUR
ATM CARD AND ONCE I HEAR FROM YOU I WILL PERSONAL SEND YOU A COPY OF YOUR
CARD FOR YOUR PERUSAL.
 
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO GIVE ME A CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF YOUR (PIN
CODE)TO ACCESS YOUR ATM CARD WHICH YOU WILL USE TO MAKE WITHDRAWAL OF YOUR
FUND AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THE ATM VISA CARD FOR SECURITY REASON PLEASE
CALL ME (+234-8087275248 ), ALSO NOTE THAT THE ONLY FEE YOU WILL PAY IS
DELIVERY FEE TO YOUR DOORSTEPS WHICH IS $99.
 
REGARDS
 
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
FMF.

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