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: "MR. ALEX IKOKU" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mark.eddy001@vp.pl>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:22:54 +0300
Subject: Do Not Ignore!!!

My Dear Good Friend,

I am using this opportunity to thank you for your great effort to our unfinished transaction and transfer of your international bank draft cheque to you from the bank, although i was able to complete this transaction witout your help but i still fell like compesating you with 1.5 million dollars for your effort, contact mark Edward and he will give full details on how to receive a check or wire transfer to your account.
email: markedward@op.pl

Thank you and God bless you as You recieve this message.

Yours sincerely.
Alex Ikoku

Anti-fraud resources: