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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: "J. Brown" <barka@uni-plovdiv.bg>
Reply-To: <jhnbrwn954@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2016 01:53:26 +0100
Subject: RE:Private message

Hello,
 
 
My name is John Brown, a wealth manager and computer analyst working with a private bank here in the United Kingdom. I have a proposal that would be of interest to you. The estate of my client with an investment placed under my management is about to be confiscated, my client is under serious scrutiny for money laundering by his government and needs a foreign partner to discreetly receive and invest funds on his behalf. I respectfully request that you keep the content of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of every information you come across as a result of this mail. I would need your partnership to help receive and invest proceeds from this transaction in your country.
 
 
Kindly get back to me for more information.
 
 
Thank you,
 
 
J.B

Anti-fraud resources: