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: "Andy Zubel" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <andyzprivate@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2018 18:44:17 +0700
Subject: BENEFICIARY (PLEASE READ CAREFULLY)

FROM ECOWAS HEADQUARTERS.
FOREIGN DEBT/OVERDUE
FUNDS PAYMENT UNIT.

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY

SIR,
MY NAME IS DR. ANDY ZUBEL OF THE FOREIGN DEBT PAYMENT UNIT OF THE ECOWAS, WHICH IS A LEADING GLOBAL FINANCIAL ORGANISATION. THE ORGANISATION IS WORLD KNOWN IN FOREIGN OVERDUE FUND AND DEBT PAYMENT SERVICES.

BE INFORMED THAT WE AT THE ECOWAS HEADQUARTERS HAVE RECEIVED INSTRUCTION FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, THE WORLD BANK AND THE IMF DEPARTMENT TO RELEASE YOUR APPROVED OVER-DUE COMPENSATION/INHERITANCE FUND TO YOU. WE HAVE WITH US THE ENTIRE DOCUMENTATION AND APPROVALS REQUIRED FOR THE SMOOTH PAYMENT OF YOUR FUNDS TO YOU VIA ATM CARD.
YOU ARE AMONG THE THREE BENEFICIARIES WHO WILL RECEIVE A FULL PAYMENT OF TEN MILLION AND FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS($:10,500,000.00)ONLY FROM THE ECOWAS HEADQUARTERS UNDER THE COMPENSATION PAYMENT ACT OF THE UNITED NATION, THE IMF DEPARTMENT AND THE WORLD BANK.

YOUR PAYMENT PROCEDURE HAS ALREADY BEEN PERFECTED. YOU ARE REQUESTED TO GET BACK TO ME FOR MORE DIRECTIVES AND INSTRUCTIONS.
MOREOVER, AT THIS FINAL APPROVAL OF YOUR COMPENSATION/INHERITANCE FUND PAYMENT OF USD$:10,500,000.00 TO BE RELEASED TO YOU BY ATM CARD FROM MY DEPARTMENT, ONE MR. HANCOCK WALTER FROM WASHINGTON DC CONTACTED MY DEPARTMENT REQUESTING FOR THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUNDS IN HIS NAME AS YOUR NEXT-OF-KIN. HE TOLD US THAT YOU DIED WEEKS AGO AFTER A BRIEF ILLNESS AND THAT YOU GAVE HIM YOUR POWER OF ATTORNEY TO INHERIT THE FUNDS.

I APOLOGIZE TO YOU ON BEHALF OF THE ECOWAS HEADQUARTERS IF WE HAVE RECEIVED FALSE INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR PAYMENT, AND FOR THE FAILURE/DELAY TO RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS EARLIER BEFORE NOW, WHICH ACCORDING TO RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN OVERDUE.
RECONFIRM YOUR INFORMATION TO US AS WE INVESTIGATE FURTHER ON YOUR PAYMENT AND THE INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY MR. HANCOCK WALTER.
YOUR FULL NAME:
ADDRESS:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
AGE AND GENDER:
OCCUPATION:
AS SOON AS WE READ YOUR EMAIL, WE SHALL PROCESS THE DELIVERY OF THE ATM CARD THROUGH OUR APPROVED COMMERCIAL BANK TO YOU VIA COURIER DELIVERY.

NOTE: WE WILL NOT HAVE ANY OPTION THAN TO PAY THE FUNDS TO MR. HANCOCK WALTER IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT 72 WORKING HOURS.
YOURS SINCERELY,
DR. ANDY ZUBEL
ECOWAS PRO

Anti-fraud resources: