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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: "FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION(F.B.I)" <online.service29@yahoo.pt>
Reply-To: "FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION(F.B.I)" <fbi.envoy@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2014 22:07:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION


 We wish to notify you that the sum of $4.5m(four millionfive hundred thousand dollars) was credited to your name as a contractual inheritance fund by the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) in collaboration with International Monetary Fund (I.M.F) through U.S embassy Benin Republic.    This fund has caused global concern and was published in some media stations in West Africa and as a result of this, some imposters has claimed to be the sender of the aforementioned fund and thereby extorting money from the beneficiaries and at the end of the day they will neither see the inherited fund nor be refund of the fee they already paid, this is what is called internet fraud or scam and it is against the law. And the ongoing scam has caught our attention to the extent that we have to investigate the matter and after some series of our investigation we found that your fund is still intact, we are sorry if you have been a victim of the internet scammers in your pursuit of your inherited fund, we know that it is about a huge sum of money that every individual will like to acquire, so we inquired about the possible means of remitting this fee to you, which are listed below;1) BANK TRANSFER2) CHEQUE3) ATM CARD 4) WESTERN UNION OR MONEY GRAM TRANSFER5) SHIPPING THROUGH COURIER SERVICES WHEN CONVERTED TO FISCAL CASH6) SENDING A DIPLOMATIC AGENT TO DELIVER AT YOUR DOOR STEP WHEN CONVERTED TO FISCAL CASH  Therefore it is left for you to choose the best and most convenient way through which you will like to receive your money And we demand for the following information from you for confirmation;1)      YOUR FULL NAME2)      YOUR CURRENT DIRECT PHONE NUMBER3)      YOUR HOME ADDRESS4)      A COPY OF YOUR ID(OPTIONAL)5)      OCCUPATION AND AGE(OPTIONAL)  PLEASE NOTE: all the listed means of remitting this money attracts some little fees which you must pay if you are to legally obtain this money, and any fund wish is not claimed within a stipulated period will be confiscated , therefore we urge you to hurry up if you are WILLING to receive this your inherited fund. We are out to help you and shall continue with you once we receive the needed information from you    Yours in ServiceWilson GeorgeResident Director FBI on African Envoy

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