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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: World Debt office <wdrc.ek@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2015 11:10:16 +0100
Subject: @@ to fill out and return the attach Data control form

*Dear Sir,Because of some inherent financial difficulties made possible by
the statutory provision regulating the functions of the Central Banks in
matters of retail banking, your payment of USD5.5M with the Nigeria
government has been reclassified to be released to you through a separate
partner financial institution via Automated Teller Machine Card or Secured
Diplomatic Cash delivery system.Consequently, you are require to fill out
and return the attach Data control form for more details.Respectfully,Mr
Desmond Eke*

Anti-fraud resources: