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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. Prak John Rachana" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rachanaprak@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2018 10:40:14 +0100
Subject: Investment in Your Country!!

Dear Sir,
I have this business to discuss with you, but also am being careful because am not sure what your response will be. I am currently working as an external auditor with a bank here in Yangon Myanmar. I discovered a dormant account which belong to a decease Syrian business man, by name Mohammed Husni Hashmi from a city called Aleppo in Syria. It has remained dormant for the past 9 years. When I raised a query, a senior manager of the bank confided to me that he had personally carried a system investigation concerning the fund in question to see if the decease  has a family for the claim, but no one has signaled  ever since.
 
From every indication, the manager want to get rid of the money, so will you be interested for this deal?  We need an  account anywhere, but outside America where we can transfer the fund to. The ratio for the sharing of the money will be discussed upon your acceptance. The amount in question is $25.5 Million US dollars.
 
we have a very good opportunity to get the money out of here if we get a sincere person to work with. I await your reply.
 
Thanks,
Sincerely,
Prak John Rachana (auditor)

Anti-fraud resources: