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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Kelvin Tan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kelvin1978tan@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 2015 15:22:42 +0800
Subject: RE

I am Kelvin Tan from Bank of East Asia Hong Kong. Before the U.S and Iraqi war our client Mr.Fayez A Mohammed a business merchant  made a fixed deposit of USD26.5 Million for 2Yrs where i was the only one that knew  about his deposits. Upon maturity during the war in 2003,Fayez,his wife and only  daughter died in a bomb blast that hits His Resident.Investigations showed that he  didn't declare any next of kin.As a foreigner,I want you to stand as the next of kin  to claim the fund for us because soon the fund will be claimed by my government if  no one comes for it.This is the laws of my country that if there is a matured fund  for 10 years and 10 months, and no body comes for it the fund will be reverted to  the account of the government of my country. Instead of this fund to return to my  government purse,lets work together to get it.The fund is in my bank and i am the  Manager so, when my law yer applies for the fund to be re
 
 
Upon your response i would provide you with more details and documents to proceed  quickly.
 
 
I await your urgent response.
 
 
Regards,
Kelvin Tan.
+852 8191 2175

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