joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
 Free trial for 30 days
   jwSpamSpy
Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: Michael Brown <michaelbrown3000000@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 27 May 2014 12:38:43 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: REPLY


Hello Dear,
How are you doing today ? I hope all is well with you.
To start with, i am Michael Brown from United Kingdom but i traveled to Asia .
Meanwhile, i saw your contact during my private search ​and i have a deep believe that you will be very honest, committed and capable of assisting me in investing in Real Estate business and Hotel business or in any lucrative business in your country.

Please, I will be grateful to read from you in this matter.
Meanwhile, tell me the kind of investment you see profitable there in your country.
I have five million U.S dollars ​ ( $ 5,000000.00 ) in my bank account in Asia and i am willing to invest this money in your county. 

Also, bear in mind that the investment i am talking about must be a joint venture business.

I'm waiting for your response so that we can proceed.

Regards,

Michael Brown.

Anti-fraud resources: