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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: International_ Monetary _Fund <imf9011@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 11:40:13 +0000
Subject: Attention: Fund Owner,(ARE YOU DEAD OR ALIVE?)


Attention: Fund Owner,(ARE YOU DEAD OR ALIVE?)

TRANSFER OF US$15,800,000.00 TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT.

We
are writhing to you know if this is true that you are DEAD? Because we
have just received a message from your next of Kin (Mr.Johnson) that
you died of a car accident 2days ago. Please if you are alive,kindly get
back to us as soon as possible. This is because if we wait for you from
now till the next 48hours without any response from you,then we shall
have the funds transferred to your next of kin.

For the purpose of clarification, you are advised to reconfirm the following information:

Full Name:................
Telephone Number..........
Cell Phone:................
Credit Card...............Yes/No...........
Physical Address.................
Occupation:.................. .
Country:.....................
Sex:......................

Please
kindly get back with the stated information so that there will be no
error during the Transfer of the funds to you in your country home of
residence.

Note: We advice you stop sending money to anybody
including this office for security purposes,okay? Be informed that your
funds is now with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Your quick response will be highly appreciated.

Best regards,
Mr. David Nello
Head of Department

Anti-fraud resources: