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: "Mrs. Sarah Powell" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <sarahpowell20@aol.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 04:52:20 +0300
Subject: ***SPAM*** I Warmly Greet You

Dear Friend,

I warmly greet you.

Please forgive me if my plea sounds a little strange or unbelievable to you, my attorney who could have handled the process of executing my WILL & TESTAMENT on my behalf died early last year after a protracted illness. I therefore .I am Mrs. Sarah C.Powell, a native of Brisbane Australia, I am 58 years old. I am suffering from protracted cancer of the lungs which has also affected part of my brain cells due to complications. From all indication, my condition has deteriorated and it is quite obvious according to my doctors that I may not live for the next couple of months.

I want you to help me and do the work of God. I will appreciate if you contact me through my email and furnish me with your Name, Sex, Age, Marital Status, Contact Address, Phone No: and your Current Occupation to enable me write a letter of authorization on your behalf to the Zenith Bank Plc, so that they will under my authorization transfer my late husband deposit to your account for the purpose of helping the poor as indicated on my WILL&TESTAMENT.


I will elaborate further as soon as I read from you and upon confirmation of your interest to my request

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.

Yours-in-Christ,

Mrs. Sarah C.Powell,

Anti-fraud resources: