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: "williamethan3" <williamethan@latinmail.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 04:08:20 -1200
Subject: HELLO




My Dear
Greetings to you
{This is a very urgent project proposal!!}
I Mr William Ethan, the Petroleum Engineering in Cross River
State, and an In-Law
to Mr Atiku Abubakar the vice President of Republic of
Nigeria. I contact you
for provision of empty land in your country, where Oil
Refinery will be built.
You are reguired to provide any one if you have or reccomend
some one who have any.
Budgeted of $130, Million U.S Dollars) has been considered
for the construction of the oil refinery.
Since the construction of the refiery will be done in your
country, you will take complete
control of the refinery construction. $85 Million U.S
Dollars is presently mapped out for a take off.
Contact me immediately on the reciept of this mail for more
discissions on area of importance which
include the land and its cost, company to handle the
construction and the intial money to be sent to you
for a take off. This business is of altmost confidentiality
considering the position of the vice president.
I look forward to your earliest mail. Include your private
telephone number(s) while replying.
Warmest Regards
Mr. William Ethan---------------------------------
Upgrade your account today for increased storage; mail
forwarding or POP enabled e-mail with automatic virus
scanning. Visit our member benefits page at
https://members.canada.com/benefits.aspx for more
information.


----------------------------------------
Upgrade your account today for increased storage; mail
forwarding or POP enabled e-mail with automatic virus
scanning. Visit our member benefits page at
https://members.canada.com/benefits.aspx for more
information.

Anti-fraud resources: