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: Michel Gagne <gagnemichel99@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2023 12:27:57 +0200
Subject: Need to bequeath you

Dear friend


My name is Michel, former Deputy Head of the South Africa Mining Department.
West). Born January 20, 1960 in Toronto, Canada. I contact you on this
forum because I want to do something very important. It will seem a bit

Suspicious because you do me
Don't know and I don't know you
In fact, I have been suffering from brain cancer which has lasted for
several years and very recently the medical tests carried out have
unfortunately revealed that I have no
More

Really long to live because the evil that eats away at me is terminal.
Faced with this terrible and painful situation, I decided to donate all

what i own because i am a widower

For a few years and unfortunately I never had the chance

To have a child. During my career as a mining manager I had to carry out
gold business and currently I have a large sum of

(3,200,000 USD $) which is in an account
Numbered and blocked domiciled in a merchant bank based in West Africa
precisely in Burkina Faso.
I sincerely wish to bequeath this sum to you so that you

May you have it to finance support and aid projects for people in
difficulty or support charities. I did

A multitude of donations to humanitarian aid associations, but I don't
really trust aid associations because I believe that the leaders of these

Associations enrich themselves on the backs of

Unhappy people. I particularly want this money to be used to alleviate the
suffering of a few
Disadvantaged people. Accordingly, if you feel capable of it, let me know
so that we can do further
knowledge and that very quickly the necessary is done for you
Allow these funds to be legally disposed of.
Hoping to connect with you
Please note that this information should be treated with the utmost
discretion and confidentiality. May the Peace and Mercy of God be with you.
Please contact me
Michael

Anti-fraud resources: