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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: "MR LARRY WALTERS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infoounitednations18@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 May 2016 11:46:01 -0400
Subject: UNITED NATIONS URGENT

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL DEBT RECONCILIATION
HEADQUARTERS (NEW YORK): FIRST AVENUE, 46TH STREET
NEW YORK, NY 10017, U.S.A.
 
Dear Unpaid Beneficiary
......................................
 
This is to inform you that the U.S Government has instructed United
Nations to remit the sum of $10.5 Million US dollars into your
Nominated Bank account, the reason for this is because your name was
among the scam victims that lost a lot of money to African and
European Fraudsters, you are hereby advised to get back to our Bank
without delay and stop all communication between you and anybody on
internet and follow our instruction to enable our bank execute the
payment of your Fund $10.5 Million US Dollars.
 
Right now, as directed by our secretary general Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, We
are working in with the U.S Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and
have decided to wave away all your clearance fees/Charges and
authorize the Government to effect the payment of your compensation of
$10.5M approved by both the British government and the UN into your
account without any delay. The only fee you will pay to confirm your
fund in your account is your COST OF TRANSFER fee to the UN.
 
get back to us with your banking information,
 
Full Names:
Country:
Direct Telephone:
Bank Name:
Bank Address:
Bank Account Number:
Routing Number:
Swift Code:
 
urgently respond to this message so that I can advise you on
how best to confirm your fund in your account within the next 15hours.
 
Sincerely yours,
MR LARRY WALTERS,

Anti-fraud resources: