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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: "Mr. Ferris Wyman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <f.wyman@yandex.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 06:06:11 -0700
Subject: Attn: Did you receive my E-mail

Good Day to you

I hope you are doing well? I am Mr. Ferris Wyman, a Director with one of the prime banks. With the recent reforms / auditing of my Bank, I was made Head of Service in my Department by the Board of Directors / Management of my bank to compile all credit accounts that has been in operation with the bank under my department/supervision.

Through my compilation of accounts, I discovered a deposited credit account with Six Million United States Only (US$6.000.000). On my further trace, I came across the file that contains vital information of this account, which has been inactive for more than Eleven years and documents of properties in the United States and Japan. The original account holder was late Mrs. Varvara Sikorsky, a Russian- American Property Magnate but unfortunately lost her life, including her husband and her only child through ghastly car accident.

The Management Board of my bank has mandated me to submit reports, filings, which may lead to the cancellation or termination of this account since all efforts to provide a next of kin to the deceased families has yielded fruitless results. I have chosen to seek your immediate consent as a foreigner to partner with me under the legitimacy as the heir apparent of Late Mrs. Varvara Sikorsky assets. With my position at the bank, I shall retrieve and process all legal documents in your favor and transfer of the fund to you.

I am ready to discuss further with you, if you are willing to work with me, please, email me at with your full names, contact telephone numbers, contact address, so I can upload your profiles to our data system, as the next of kin to the deceased estates..

Mr. Ferris Wyman
Head of Service

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