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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: "JAMES BROWN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <ritamechi1@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:37:09 -0800
Subject: YOUR COMPENSATION OF $2,800,000.00!

DEAREST FRIEND,
 
I AM JAMES BROWN. AND AM VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT MY SUCCESS IN
GETTING THAT FUND TRANSFERRED.
 
NOW I WANT YOU TO CONTACT MY SECRETARY ON THE INFORMATION BELOW AND
RECEIVE YOUR COMPENSATION OF $2,800,000.00 FROM HER:
 
NAME....Mrs Rita Amechi
EMAIL:( ritamechi1@gmail.com )
TEL:+234 802 682 5144
 
SEND SHE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO PROVE YOURSELF TO HER:
 
YOUR FULL NAME;
YOUR ADDRESS:
YOUR COUNTRY:
YOUR AGE
YOUR OCCUPATION:
YOUR PHONE NUMBER :
 
NOTE THAT IF YOU DID NOT SEND HER THE ABOVE INFORMATION COMPLETE, HE
WILL NOT RELEASE THE ATM MASTER CARD TO YOU BECAUSE HER HAS TO BE SURE
THAT IS YOU.
 
ASK HER TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL SUM OF ($2,800,000.00)USD IN ATM MASTER
CARD, WHICH I KEPT FOR YOU.
 
NOTE ALSO THAT I WILL NOT BE REACHED BY EMAIL OR PHONE FOR NOW BECAUSE
I AM CURRENTLY AWAY FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSE WITH MY SHARE AND I WILL BE
BUSY TILL ABOUT SIX MONTHS TIME OR A YEAR.
 
BEST REGARDS
JAMES BROWN

Anti-fraud resources: