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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: WU@mail.com
Reply-To: fleewuml@qq.com
Date: Sun, 18 May 2014 00:30:59 +0800
Subject: Transaction #: WUMT-MY7910


=

Dear Western Union Beneficiary,
Your funds transaction of 1,500,000.00 USD has been approved by UNITED NATI=
ONS

(UN) in their on going poverty alleviation program 2014 and we have been in=
structed to start sending you 7,600.00 USD daily using our Western Union sy=
stem. Send details Full Name, Address, and Phone Number to Helen Kuan at: E=
mail: fleewuml@qq.com for more information on your transaction status OR ca=
ll our 24 hours Helpline +601-126-433-169 for any inquiries.


Yours truly,

Sophie Cheetham
Western Union Malaysia

Anti-fraud resources: