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: "MICROSOFT CORPORATIONS:" (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2019 03:48:21 +0200
Subject: Microsoft Promo..

MICROSOFT CORPORATIONS:
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
MADRID - ESPANA.
REFERENCE NUMBER: MSFT-009-X54-BB
BATCH NUMBER: MSFT-2019- SM-009
TICKET NUMBERS: 3,8,15,19,10,26

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION.

We are pleased to inform you of the released results of Microsoft Summer Promo...
This is a promotional program organized by Microsoft Corporations, in conjunction with the Foundation for the promotion of software products, microsoft windows and use of email addresses. Held on Tuesday 15th, October 2019, in Madrid, Spain.
Your email address won a cash award of Nine hundred and eighty eight thousand two hundred and fourty euros (988,240 Euros) and a computer laptop Core i7...
Contact Our Foreign Transfer Manager for claims with your winning details and your contact information.
Mrs. Helena Sanchez.
Email: micropromo@yahoo.com
Congratulations!!
Sincerely,
Rosa Martinez.

Anti-fraud resources: