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: "ww MRS. VIVIAN W. JEKE." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <special_adviser@mail.kz>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:29:01 +0100
Subject: ww HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR PAYMENT.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE
PRESIDENT ON FOREIGN PAYMENT.
special_adviser@discuz.org
 
Attn: Beneficiary,
 
HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR PAYMENT? YOU PAYMENT HAS BEEN APPROVED TO BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR ACCOUNT.
 
RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL IMMEDIATELY SO THAT THE DETAILS OF YOUR PAYMENT TRANSFER WILL BE FORWARDED TO YOU FOR YOUR CONFIRMATION.
 
Yours Faithfully,
 
MRS. VIVIAN W. JEKE.
Special Adviser to the President
on Foreign Payment.
special_adviser@discuz.org
 
 

Anti-fraud resources: