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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: "Abba Ghali" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <abbaghali3@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 1980 03:51:59 -0800
Subject: Attn: Your Last Opportunity To Receive Your Funds.


Attn: Beneficiary,

I write to inform you that I can enforce the release of this your
unsettled Contract/Lottery/Inheritance claims but I know you will find
it extremely difficult to believe me due to what you have already gone
through in terms of disappointments, unfulfilled promises and wasted
years on this transaction. I want to tell you that in this era of
information technology, it is very simple to retrieve your funds and
have it credited into your account just by using a simple computer
that is connected to the Internet.

All your struggles of the past were not really necessary but you had
to go through them out of ignorance of what is really in vogue. If you
can have faith in me, I will contact you again with my full plans on
how to retrieve these funds from the Nigerian treasury. I do not want
to talk much here like the yahoo criminal. I am a guru in Information
Technology (IT) and I prefer going straight to the point and get
immediate result.

Would you be interested in retrieving your funds without going through
the rigors of endless government bureaucratic and make-believe bottlenecks?.
I have designed an Open Financial Exchange (OFX), which is a Personal Financial
Management (PFM) scaleable platform capable of instalmentally siphoning your funds
out of the database of the Central Bank of Nigeria without any traces and risks
whatsoever.

This is purely e-commerce and the OFX server would simply be acting as
a Bridge between the CBN telex room and your receiving banking
co-ordinate. It would amaze you how easy your funds shall be
retrieved, so get back to me if you want me to do this for you AT NO
COST since I have built/designed the platform already. It is still ok
if you don't need my help, but kindly let me know your position so
that I do not waste my time waiting in vain.

Meanwhile, do furnish me with the following details for proper documentation and communication:

A) Your full Name............
B) Your Address In Full............
c) Your country...................
D) Age and Sex...................
E) Your Cell Phone...............
F) Occupation..................

I shall give you details of how this deal would be done, but in your
response kindly let me know what I stand to gain from you by helping
you actualize this payment.

Regards,
Abba Ghali.

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