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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: "Lt . Mandy Stevens" <us.mandystevens@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2016 10:40:09 +0000
Subject: Hope to meet your kind aquintance

Hi, Am LT Mandy Stevens of the US Army ,Please do read this carefully and get back to me. Here is a secret i want to share with you. something happened over here in Afghanistan some months ago before i met you and i was opportune to meet with an oil company over here and they pleaded for safety and their security due to the war going on and also because of the threat of the Taliban's over here so we went into an agreement and i decided to relieve some of my men off their duty out side the US security mission in Afghanistan for me to be able to provide security for this company and this was a secret agreement between us outside the military base and when this was over i was paid the agreed amount of eight million Dollars ($8,000,000) as agreed between me and the company so i kept the money safe and secured for the time being with one of the security company over here in Afghanistan but i got an email today from the security company were i kept the money telling me that the due date for me to move this money out from their custody is: 01 November 2016, which is very difficult for me to do at this time. I have thought a lot about the possibility of sending it to my mom or esther my daughter but has been to no avail cause mom is too old in a nursing home and esther is too young and in a boarding school. I don't know what to do and if I fail to remove this money from their custody, the money will be confiscated to the Afghanistan government unused treasury. I shared a tear when i got the news, my heart is so bitter because I don't want to lose this money that I suffered for cause i have really suffered for my country and the world at large in bringing peace at the expense of my life and now am going into my retirement i also need money to start up a good life too cause we get little gratuity. The government has since banned the banks from sending huge amounts because of the war here. I think i need your assistance as time is running fast. All I need is your honesty cause i want to trust you more deeply now. I have spoken with the Security company to help me move this money by Diplomatic means to you there in your country so that you can help me save this money as my duty will be over soon. As soon as I complete my job, I will be coming to the US to get it. I plan to go into investment with this money as i told you before also after my retirement so i guess i will see how it goes when am out of here then. The money will be delivered by a Diplomatic delivery company. This delivery process is very safe and secured and note the only reason i am sending it to you is because you are the only friend and person i trust now though we never met and because mom and esther can't receive it for the reasons i gave above. Please I want you to know that Diplomatic Couriers are granted diplomatic immunity and are thereby protected by the receiving state when performing their job. This is the safest means to send anything. As you know because of regulation. It will be impossible to send from here by Bank Transfer to you as the banking policy here now is very restricted and strict. Please kindly send to me these information below to enable me register the package with the Diplomatic delivery Company. I was informed that package will be registered and the package will be delivered to you at your address successfully so please send me your (1) Your full name (2) Telephone number (3) Address (4) Email address This is what I would like you to do, once you receive this money, you should Save the money for me in a safety box until I come to meet you. I assure you that all the process about moving this money out from here to you will be successful. Please, I want you to know that this money is my life and future and I beg you in the name of God not to betray or disappoint me. please you must try to keep it as a top secret for safety purpose meanwhile i wait for your reply and your full information and i hope you will have a positive understanding to all this i have written. Hope i can trust you waiting to hear from you

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