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: "steven mmuchin" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <musteven21@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 2 May 2019 16:02:56 +0100
Subject: UNITED STATES NATIONAL TREASURY PAYMENT APPROVAL.4

Good day to you. I am Steven T. Mnuchin, The Secretary of the United States National Treasury. Here is a little about my self and also the reason why I have decided to contact you. I am an American politician and hedge fund manager who is the 77th and current United States Secretary of the Treasury in  Donald Trump Administrations, and I am member of the Republican Party.
Formerly i work with Goldman Sachs, But in 2002, i left Goldman and worked briefly for Yale roommate Edward Lampert, Chief executive of Sears. I also briefly work for Soros Fund Management. On February, 2017, I was nominated as the replacement for the retiring Treasury Secretary Jacob Joseph " Jack" Lew, to serve in President Donald Trump Administration. Kindly visit the website below to view my personal profile.  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Mnuchin
United Nations have given me due Instructions, alongside with the World Bank to wire a sum of $10million US Dollars Only into your Bank Account in a legal way, That is why I have contacted you and to let you know that the United States Department of Justice, in The Person of the Attorney General will get some documents for you so that this transaction can be completed without delay.
Below is the Required Documents:1: United Nations/U.S fund approval Certificate2: World Bank deposit Certificate3: Proof of Ownership Certificate from U.S Government. These three(3) documents are needed before I can proceed with the transfer into your bank account: in the meantime; I want you to Re-Confirm the following details to me for your Case File Processing.
Legal First and Last Name:
Complete Residential Address & Age Direct Telephone No & Fax Legal
Occupation and Position Address of Occupation
Please get back to me as soon as possible via my Personal Email:
Thanks and God Bless you.
Mr. Steven T. Mnuchin.
Executive Secretary United States Treasury Department
Main Treasury1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220.

Anti-fraud resources: