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: williamoscar226 williamoscar226 <williamoscar226@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2019 11:48:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: REPLY


FROM OSCAR WILLIAMS,RUE 42 ILOT HD, ABIDJAN MACORRY,(COTE D'IVOIRE)
Dearest One,
I Am Indeed Glad To Be In Contact With You Even Though This Medium Of Communication (Internet) Has Been Grossly Abused By Criminal Minded People Making It Difficult For People With Genuine Struggle To Correspond And Exchange Views Without Skepticism.
I Hope This Mail Meets You In Good Health And Spirit, I Am, Oscar Williams, A Sierra Leonia. Presently, I Live As a Refugee In republic of Cote D'Ivoire, With My Younger Sister, Sandra. I Am A Victim Of War And The Son Of Late Chief Hanson Williams The Assassinated Former Assistant Director Of Sierra Leone Gold And Diamond Mining Corporation.
My Father Was Killed With Other Government Officials During Official Hours When The Rebel Troops Stormed And Raided The Mining Corporation Office At The Heat Of The Crisis In My Country. Few Weeks Later, The Rebels Also Invaded Our Residential Building In Which My Mother And Two Of Our Security Men Were Killed In The Compound While I Was Out For A Special Research Program And My Younger Sister Was In School. I had a singular shock and trauma, which compelled us to flee from the country to republic of Cote D'ivoire by the help of an army colonel, who is a close friend of my late father.
I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek your assistance to transfer our cash of seventeen Million, Five Hundred thousand Dollars ( $17,500,000 ) now in the custody of a bank here in Cote D`Ivoire to your private account pending our arrival to yourcountry. I Am Making This Request To You With Tears In My Eyes And I Feel That God Almighty Will Touch You With His Spirit To Listen To My Cry For Help And Answer Me Without Delay. For your assistance, I beg to concede 20 % of this money to you for your efforts assistance. In your reply, i will like you to send to us your contact information such as your full name, your address and your telephone number.
Urgent Reply.Best regardOscar Williams

Anti-fraud resources: