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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: "INVESTMENT" <KathyCalvinfo@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: KathyCalvinfo1@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2016 04:12:24 -0800
Subject: YOUR INVESTMENT

I am kathy, the finance officer, united nation (UN),
i have 2.5 billion dollars to invest on communication
company in your country, i would have like you to
receive this money and build the company on my behalf.
am doing this because of my office and to avoid the
money been trace very soon, If you want me to go ahead,
let me know as soon as you get this mail, so that I
can continue the payment schedule
and make the transfer without further delay.

Thank you
Kathy Calvin
The finance officer(UN)

Anti-fraud resources: