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: "Miriam Inaki" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <miraminaki@lycos.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2017 02:18:04 -0700
Subject: Winning email

Microsoft Iberica S.L Lottery Intl. Program
FOREIGN SERVICE SECTION BARCELONA.
REFERENCE NUMBER:YUKFQ/RYYHJ
BATCH NUMBER: 2016/WTN

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you of the released results of the Microsoft Iberica S.L
Sweepstakes Promotion in conjunction with foundations for the promotion of software
products organized for Software users.

This Program was held in Barcelona- Spain; Wherein your email address
emerged as one of the online Winning emails in the 1st category and
therefore attracted a cash award of EUR344,000.00 and a Mac laptop/iPhone.
Your laptop, certificate of winnings and your cheque of (EUR344,000.00)
will be sent to your contact address in your location.

To file for claims of the release of your winnings,
Contact the Customer Service Officer with the information below:

1.FULL NAMES:
2.ADDRESS:
3.SEX:
4.AGE:
5.MARITAL STATUS:
6.OCCUPATION:
7.TELEPHONE NUMBER:
8.COUNTRY:
9. BATCH NUMBER:
10. REFERENCE NUMBER:

Email: cuservdept@excite.co.jp
Contact Person: Manuel Vizner [CSO]

Congratulations!!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Miriam Inaki
Online Coordinator

Anti-fraud resources: