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: "HSBC bank" <pstronati@uilscuola.it>
Reply-To: 2878384414@qq.com; 2878384414@qq.com
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 21:39:00 -0700
Subject: matter of urgency

Good day friend ...
I am a Banker with HSBC Bank here in Malaysia,I have an interesting
business proposal for you that will be of immense
benefit to both of us. Although this may be hard for you to believe, we
stand to gain $35 million between us in a matter of days and your shear
is 50percent of the total funds. Please grant me the benefit of doubt
and hear me out. I need you to signify your interest
by replying to this email.

Anti-fraud resources: