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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: "Tom LEONG" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <tom.leong@maygroup2u.ml>
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2017 20:51:23 -0400
Subject: Re: Claim Your Bequest

Dear Friend,
 
My name is Thomas LEONG, an external auditor working with May bank Malaysia.
I have taken pains to find your contact through personal endeavors because a late investor
who bears the same last name with you has left an amount of ($19.2M) with our Bank for
the past 12 years and no next of kin has come forward to claim the money.
 
To affirm your willingness and cooperation to my proposal, pls reply to this email or email
me at (tom.leong@maygroup2u.ml) for more information.
 
Kindly respond to my email ASAP and treat with absolute confidentiality and sincerity.
 
Best Regards.
Thomas Leong
May Bank Malaysia
 
 

Anti-fraud resources: