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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: "Steven Terner Mnuchin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <fundsinvestigator@accountant.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2017 18:54:04 +0200
Subject: Treasury Notice

United States Department of Treasury,
Treasury Building
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.

Based on our agreement at the recently held bilateral meeting with officials of the Nigeria embassy and their finance minister for the release of your overdue Contract/Inheritance payment. $5,000,000.00 has been loaded into an ATM Card and registered with the assigned courier for delivery to you, Your Card PIN is: 7125 and the maximum withdrawal per day is $5,000. Contact Delivery Officer: Mr. Donna Adonis on Email: (fundsinvestigator@accountant.com) with your Name, Address, Phone Number.


Regards,
Steven Terner Mnuchin
Secretary of the Treasury

Anti-fraud resources: