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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: "Capt Glenn Anthony" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <cptglenn11110000@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2018 11:01:37 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

Good day and compliments, I know this letter will definitely come to you as a surprise,
but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go
off a long way to determine my future and continued existence. Once again I'm very sorry to
encroach into your privacy in this manner because we do not have any personal contact
but I believe God has a way of bringing people together to achieve his purpose.

Please allow me to introduce myself. I am CAPTAIN GLENN ANTHONY, in 4th Battalion, 64th Armored
Regiment unit here that Patrols the helmand province, Afghanistan. I am desperately in need of
assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you.

I am presently in Afghanistan and I found your contact particulars in an address journal. I am seeking
your assistance to evacuate the sum of $7m (Seven Million United States Dollars) to you,as far as
I can be assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my service here.This is no stolen
money and there are no dangers involved.

SOURCE OF MONEY:

Some money in US DOLLARS was discovered and concealed in barrels at a location in helman
province when we conducted a foot patrol and it was agreed by all party present that the money be shared
amongst us. This might appear as an illegal thing to do but I tell you what? No compensation can make
up for the risks we have taken with our lives in this hellhole. The above figure was given to me as my
share and to conceal this kind of money became a problem for me, so with the help of a Canadian
contact working with the UN here (his office enjoys some immunity) I was able to get the package out to
a safe location entirely out of trouble spot. He does not know the real contents of the package as
he believes that it belongs to an American who died in an air raid, who before giving up trusted me to
hand over the package to his close relative.

I have now found a secured way of getting the package out of Afghanistan for you to pick up. I do not
know how long I will remain here, as I have been lucky to survive 2 suicide bomb attacks by Pure Divine
intervention. This and other reasons put into consideration have prompted me to reach out for help. If it
might be of interest to you then Endeavor to contact me immediately and we would work out the
necessary formalities but I pray that you are discreet about this mutually benefiting relationship.

Respectfully,
Captain GLENN,
United States Soldier: Afghanistan

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