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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Mrs Steven Mensah <stevenmensah2000@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2014 13:53:31 +0100 (CET)
Subject: FROM MR STEVEN MENSAH


As the world is defined as a global village, I don’t want you to get this
email as a surprise but as an opportunity that will benefit both of us. To make
it brief One of our accounts with holding balance of $10,000.000.00(Ten million
Us dollars) has been dormant and has not been operated for the past Four (8)
years. From my investigations as an auditing and accounting manager of this
bank the account belongs to our deceased customer who died in the 2008 China
Earthquake leaving nobody for the claim. for your clear information this is a
genuine business transaction only I cannot operate it alone without using a
foreigner according to the laws guiding my bank, that is why I am contacting
you in this manner to help me stand before my bank as the next-of-kin or
relative to claim this fund into your bank account, you will be entitled to
have 50% from the total fund while 50% will be for me. Please it must be very
confidential because i am still in office. This transaction is totally free of
risk and as the fund is legitimate and does not originate from drug, money
laundering, terrorism or any other illegal act. On receipt of your response I
will furnish you with detailed clarification as it relates to the mutual
benefit of this transaction above all a line of reply will be highly
appreciated in this regard.Thank you.

Best regards
Mr Steven Mensah

Anti-fraud resources: