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: "IBRAHIM LAMORDE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <efcc2004@freemail.hu>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 00:31:42 +0200
Subject: RE-SEND YOUR PAYMENT NOTIFICATION DETAILS.....

NIGERIA ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL
CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC).
15 AWOLOWO WAYS VICTORIA
ISLAND LAGOS NIGERIA
DATE: 16/02/2015
 
 
ATTN:
 
FIRST WE INTRODUCES THIS COMMISSION, Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) WE FIGHT CYBER CRIME FRAUD SCAM MONEY LAUNDERING IN AFRICA.OUR COMMISSION HAS BEEN IN EXISTENCE SINCE 2004.
 
OUR DUTIES IS TO STOP INTERNET FRAUD SCAM. AS FOR TODAY WE HAVE PUT A LOT OF FRAUDSTERS BEHIND BARS A LOT OF THEM ARE IN JAIL WE GO ALL OVER AFRICA TO PICK THIS THIEVES.
 
WE HAVE OVER 1,687 OF THEM IN OUR JAILS ROUND AFRICA AND WE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR MORE, WE ARE AWARE THAT A LOT OF FOREIGNERS OUT THERE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED TRICKED AND LOST A LOT OF MONEY. TO THIS FRAUDSTERS AFTER PROMISING YOU PERCENTAGES IN THEIR LETTERS BUT AT THE END THEY WILL COLLECT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FROM YOU,THEREBY MAKING YOU A POOR PERSON.
 
ALL THE AFRICAN CRIME FIGHTERS LEADERS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO INFORM THE WORLD WHAT IS GOING ON NOW AND WE HAVE RECOVERED OVER $522 MILLION DOLLARS(FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS) FROM THE PEOPLE WE HAVE BEHIND BARS. THE ONLY REASON WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER, IS TO LET YOU KNOW THAT YOUR NAME WAS GIVEN TO US BY ONE OF THE FRAUDSTERS IN OUR JAIL HOUSE, THAT HE COLLECTED MONEY FROM YOU BY TRICKS.
 
OUR ACTION NOW IS TO REFUND BACK MONEY TO FOREIGNERS WHO LOST MONEY TO THESE THIEVES. WE ARE PAYING BACK FROM THE MONEY WE RECOVERED.PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS OFFICE WAS ABLE TO PACKAGE YOUR FUNDS ($ 1,000,000.00) IN TWO ATM MASTER CARD WHICH WILL BE DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME ADDRESS AS SOON AS WE HEAR FROM YOU.BE INFORMED THAT EACH CARD CONTAINS $500,000.00.DIRECTIVES ON HOW TO USE YOUR CARD AND PIN-CODES ARE ALL INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE.
 
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TO PROVIDE YOUR CURRENT HOME ADDRESS,RECEIVERS NAME AND TELEPHONE NUMBER SO THAT AS SOON AS THE DELIVERY AGENT GETS TO YOUR COUNTRY,HE WILL CALL FOR FURTHER DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO DELIVER YOUR CARDS.
 
THE DELIVERY FEE IS ONLY $150, SO PLEASE GO AHEAD AND SEND TO THE AGENTS INFORMATION BELLOW:
 
RECEIVER: VITALIS ONUOHA
AMOUNT: $150
ADDRESS: OWERRI-NIGERIA
TEST QUESTION: IN GOD
ANSWER: WE TRUST
MTCN......?
 
IF YOU KNOW ANY PERSON FAMILY OR FRIEND THAT HAS LOST MONEY TO FRAUDSTERS PLEASE TELL HIM/HER TO WRITE TO THIS COMMISSION WITH PROVES AND WE WILL HANDLE HIS/HER CASE THEN PAY BACK AFTER VERIFICATION.
 
WE ARE AWARE THIS FRAUDSTERS HAS BROKEN A LOT OF HOME, MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE TO LOSE THEIR JOB, SELL THEIR PROPERTIES,CLOSED THEIR BUSINESS, PUT MANY ON THE STREET, MADE A LOT TO EVEN LOSE THEIR LIFE.
 
REGARDS
 
IBRAHIM LAMORDE
(CHAIRMAN EFCC)

Anti-fraud resources: