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: kim aure <kim_aure@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: kim_aure@msn.com
Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 16:17:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Please respond, it is urgent


Please, it's me Kim, I really don't mean to inconvenience you right now, I made a little trip to United Kingdom and I misplaced my passport and credit cards, please I know
this may sound odd, but it all happened very fast. I need to get a new passport, and get on the next available flight home. I've been to the embassy, they're willing to help,
but I'm out of cash. Can you loan me some funds? I'll be willing to pay you as soon as I get home.
 
Please reply as soon as you get this message, so I can forward the details as to where to send the funds, and I can pick it up using my ID. You can reach me via the hotel's desk
phone if you can. The numbers are, 011447045733705
 
I await your response
Kim Aure

Anti-fraud resources: