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: R John <lhfays01@elperfume.es>
Reply-To: vjrichmondoffice@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:18:23 +0100
Subject: Unknown windfalls

Good day my friend, I ask for your kind attention and understanding
regarding my aim of emailing you. My name is VJ Richmond, an investment
banker with a bank here in England. Consider this transaction with the
utmost confidence. I am an Account Portfolio Manager of a client who
died recently, he has an investment of $5,879,494.00 (Five million eight
hundred seventy-nine thousand four hundred ninety-four, I can make you
his next of kin to make claim of the funds. I have a well-organized
strategy to make this a smooth transaction. I will give you 50% of
$5,879,494.00, if you accept my proposal, send me your name, mailing
address and contact number.

With best regards,

VJ Richmond.

Anti-fraud resources: