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. Jeff Johnson" <JeffJohnson@soleil.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: "Mr. Jeff Johnson" <controltermpaneldhl0@inbox.lv >
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2015 18:49:38 +0900 (JST)
Subject: U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

I,m Jeh Charles. Johnson. The secretary of the U.S Department of Homeland security Washington DC. Office Address: 3801 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC 20016, United States. We received a report from ECOWAS that you have an abandoned fund worth $4.5 Million in West Africa. I have instructed ECOWAS and the concerned authorities to bring the consignment box to our Head office in Washington DC. the fund will arrive my office today. I want you to kindly Reconfirm Your Full Name, Current Home Address, Nearest Airport and your Direct Cell Phone # So that preparation can be made for the delivery of the consignment to your home address.

I wait to hear from you.

Honorable Jeh C. Johnson
The secretary of
the U.S Department of
Homeland security
Washington DC
Office Address:
3801 Nebraska Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20016,
United States

Anti-fraud resources: