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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: "MR. GODWIN EMEFIELE" <godwin@bright.net>
Reply-To: mr.godwinemefiele705@yahoo.de
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 07:08:30 -0500
Subject: DO YOU AUTHORIZE MRS JANET WHITE?

DEAR ESTEEMED CUSTOMERS,

A WOMAN CAME TO MY OFFICE FEW DAYS AGO WITH A LETTER,
CLAIMING TO BE YOUR TRUE REPRESENTATIVE. HERE ARE HER INFORMATION FOR
YOU TO CONFIRM TO THIS OFFICE IF THIS WOMAN IS TRULY FROM YOU OR NOT
SO THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING INTO ANY WRONG ACCOUNTS.

HER CLAIMS NAME: MRS JANET WHITE, BANK NAME: CITY BANK ARIZONA, USA. ACCOUNT
NUMBER: 6503809428. PLEASE, DO RECONFIRM TO THIS OFFICE, AS A MATTER OF
URGENCY IF THIS WOMAN IS FROM YOU.

YOUR CONTRACT AMOUNT:(US$7.5M) SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSANDS UNITED STATES DOLLARS.
RECONFIRM THE FOLLOWING BELOW TO US IMMEDIATELY FOR YOUR FUND TRANSFER.
1.FULL NAME:.........
2.HOME ADDRESS ..........
3.AGE: ........
4.OCCUPATION:..........
5.DIRECT MOBILE NUMBER:.............

WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOONEST.
BEST REGARDS,
MR. GODWIN EMEFIELE
GOVERNOR CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.

Anti-fraud resources: