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: Rita Johnson <ritajohnson2081@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2018 10:07:39 +0000
Subject: Sincerely Yours,

My name is Rita Johnson, 19 years old I am from Cote Divoire, West
Africa. I am the only daughter to my late parents Mr/Mrs Edward
Johnson. I am contacting you because I need you to assist me in the
management of sum $2.5 million u.s dollars that my
late father left for me before he died.in the africa bank here in cote
divoire, Please I am ready to offer you
30% for your help and I will donate 10% to the orphans just like me,
and you will help me to invest the balance in your country. Please
take me like your daughter or your sister. Thanks and I will give you
more details as soon as I hear from you.

Sincerely Yours,
Rita Johnson

Anti-fraud resources: