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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: Francis <francis@governmenty.ae.tn>
Reply-To: <danielserrand@orange.fr>
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 13:05:46 +0100
Subject: Your (US$7,800,000.00)

Hi,
We would like to bring your attention to the following updates. The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conducted an audit on the West African government account recently. And During our recent audit, the total sum of (US$7,800,000.00) were discovered which has been approved in your favor but still unclaimed; We were meant to understand from our findings that you have been going through hard ways by paying a lot of charges to see the release of your funds which has been the handwork of some miscreant elements from this country. We certainly do apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. We’re working harder than ever to help people move money quickly, reliably and more efficiently across borders and around the globe. Therefore, we will like to know how you wish receive this payment. Here are our methods of payment;
1. By cashier check
2. By corporate ATM visa card
3. By swift wire transfer
All I want you to know before we finally proceed is that you are to commit your time, sincerity and confront yourself as the sole beneficiary of this $7.8M to this office with the necessary details needed to ensure your claim goes out smoothly. Please write down your real and correct name and shipping address, including the postal code and your phone number carefully and completely. We are confident that you will be satisfied with the service we provide.


Sincerely,
Francis EGOYIBO
Office of the Accountant General of the Federation

Anti-fraud resources: