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: Deborah Shombe <debsho03@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Deborah Shombe <deborah_shombe22@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:22:43 +0900 (JST)
Subject: urgent message


Dearest,
Please I need your help to transfer some fund to your country, I know  
my letter may come to you as a surprise, I am Miss Deborah Shombe, I am  
22 years of age from SIERRA LEONE, this money ($4.5m) is of no criminal  origin  
as it was realized  from the alluvial gold dust sold during the  war  
when my late father was the head Kantanga Province in SIERRA LEONE. I  
will also give you further  details as soon as I hear from you.
Sincerely yours,
Miss Deborah Shombe

Anti-fraud resources: