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: "Sarah Vangeel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <svfenescoo@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2018 16:20:25 +0200
Subject: Re: My family and i deserve a decent life...

Hello,
My name is Sarah Vangeel 37 years old, My priority of contacting you is to propose a business that requires a rapid implementation and i am willing to give you all the necessary information about me once trust is established between us. Due to the current president Bashar Al-Assad protests in my country Syria, many families are running for their dear lives as soldiers are killing civilians women and children.

I want to bring to your notice that I have in my possession $ 1.5 million dollar. This is money that my husband and I have saved our life as an industrialist and he have it deposited with a bank overseas before he was killed.
As a woman since my husband is dead, all I have are my two kids Michael and Jay, we deserve a decent life as I want us to grow up in a peaceful environment. I want to move to your country with my family and invest the money in accordance with the law, your advice and help. We can work together and achieve a better future for our families.

I have contacted you because i am in need of a trustworthy person who will contact the bank on my behalf as my foreign partner and ask the bank the possibility of transferring this fund to your position in your country.

I have lost all my relatives in the war, now with no brother and sister, I cannot risk my life here to avoid my family lineage. I take this opportunity because I have no alternative and other purpose to trust someone.

I will appreciate if you reply me so i can explain further: svfenescoo@gmail.com

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Vangeel

Anti-fraud resources: