joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Mrs. Margaret Mead" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.mmead@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2017 08:38:29 -0800
Subject: Email me.

Hello my beloved, Life is gradually getting away from me due to my medical condition presently and my personal doctor told me I have few days left to live. In view this setback, I want to donate my property for humanitarian assistance, because this has always been the plan of my late husband and besides I do not have children. In order to complement the good work of humanitarian services and my desire to help less privileged children, I will donate a total of Four Million US Dollars to you. On your acknowledgment of this email and telling me about your willingness to assist me on this project, my lawyer will facilitate due processes for transferring this heritage to you. Do assure me that you will use this money wisely on charitable work.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Margaret Mead

Anti-fraud resources: