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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: "EFCC" (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2016 19:25:34 -0000
Subject: Re: Regards

Good day,

Apologies for infringing into your valuable time but it is believed to be in your own interest and benefit. A trailed and investigated Fraudster was remanded for nefarious activities. In the course of our investigation it was confirmed that during his process of carrying out fraudulent activities he has always claimed to be a citizen of different foreign countries but unfortunately he is a Nigeria by Nationality. His true name is SABODE but in the process of his fraudulent scheme he impersonates dignitaries and high level personalities in Nigeria. After several investigations, we went through his laptops and e-mail accounts and we found your e-mail address and several other incriminating documents such as fake bank cheques, fake contract documents, loads of e-mails to be spammed and lots more which can be used to prosecute him.


It is assumed that you could be one of his victims that fell for his numerous forms of Internet Scam because he was caught in the act of scheming funds from another victim before our enforcement agencies caught up with him. We would like you to get back to us with your information to compare with the ones we extracted from him. We assure you that your funds will be refunded to you as soon as we confirm if truly you were a victim of his scheme.

If you are interested in a refund and also to be compensated, kindly contact:

Name: EFCC
E-mail: fraud.victims@cyberservices.com

Warmest Regards,
Acting Chairman,
MR. IBRAHIM MUSTAFA MAGU

Anti-fraud resources: