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: "Maj. Sean McFarland." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <majseanmacfarlandus@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2019 02:29:09 +0200
Subject: investment

My name is Maj. Sean McFarland.. I am an American soldier, presently in syria for the training, advising the syria forces and also helping in stabilizing the country against security challenges. With a very desperate need for assistance, I have decided to contact you for your kind assistance to move the sum of $(38,000,000.00) to you if I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care until I complete my service.

I want to invest this money and your assistance is urgently needed to accomplish this task. I am ready to compensate you with 30 percent of the $38 Mill USD for your assistance.I do not know how long we will remain here, and I have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by the special grace of God, this and other reasons I will mention later has prompted me to reach out for help.
Please contact me as soon as possible with the following details: seanmacfarlandus@gmail.com

Full Name:
Full Address:
Tel/cell numbers:
Occupation:


God Bless you as I look forward to your positive response.

Truly yours,

Maj. Sean McFarland.

Anti-fraud resources: