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: Oliver Holbourn <officaa500@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2023 10:58:11 +0000
Subject: Good news

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to inform you that you are among those whose pending payment
has been approved by the IMF in conjunction with the World Bank. The
fund release has been delayed as a result of your dealings with
unauthorized individuals, so you are advised to stop every
communication with anybody/institution regarding the payment.

These funds originated from unpaid contract sums, inheritance/next of
kin and lottery beneficiaries that originated from Europe, Asia Plus
Middle East, America and Africa. You are among the list of individuals
and companies whose unpaid funds have been approved for payment under
the supervision of the International Monetary Fund Headquarters here
in Washington, DC USA.

We do hereby ask you to contact this office within 48 hours of
receiving this notification. Please reconfirm your full name and
contact telephone number to enable us to normalize the documents in
your name and advise you on how to make your claim. KINDLY CONTACT ME
FOR MY EMAI ( elliot.russell01@consultant.com )

Yours faithfully,
Dr. Robert Carter
Coordinator, International Settlement Unit

Anti-fraud resources: