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: ASTEL BRANO <helpme_branoastel@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:19:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: I WILL HANG MYSELF & DIE.


GOD BE WITH YOU, MY BRETHREN IN CHRIST JESUS. MY
BRETHREN I HAVE THIS MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD
IN THE WORLD BEFORE I DIE, HERE IS MY MESSAGE.
I WILL HANG MYSELF AND DIE, IT IS BETTER THAN TO BE
AMONG THE LIVING WHILE MY LIFE IS BITTER, SINCE I WAS
BORN I HAVE NEVER WITNESS ANY BETTER PART OF LIFE AT
THE SAME TIME I BELONG TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. I HAVE
SEEKED FOR HELP IN MANY CHRISTIAN ORGANISATIONS EVEN
UNITED NATIONS (UN) BUT IS ALL THE SAME THING. I HAVE
PRAYED TIME WITHOUT SEASON, BUT NO RESPONSE FROM GOD.
I NOW DECIDED TO WRITE TO OUT REACH CHRISTIAN
CHURCHES, IF THEY CAN JUST BECAUSE OF GOD AND HUMANITY
COME TO MY AIDS AND HELP ME TO THE BEST OF THEIR
ABILITIES.
I AM AN ORPHAN, NO FATHER , NO MOTHER, NO BROTHERS &
SISTERS NO RELATIVES EVEN. I GROW UP I FOUND MYSELF IN
ORPHANS CENTRE BUT I KNOW THAT, I AM DIFFERENT FROM
THIS COUNTRY FROM MY NAME & MY COLOUR. MY WORLD IS
LIKE MISTRY TO ME, I DON`T EVEN KNOW ANY PERSON. EVEN
MY PARENTS. THIS WORLD IS A CRAZY WORLD, YOUR MY LAST
HOPE. IF THEIR IS NO URGENT RESCUE FROM THE PASTORS &
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES, I WILL PREFER TO HANG MYSELF &
DIE. I KNOW GOD WILL NOT BLAME ME, BECAUSE MY HEART
STANDS WELL IN FAITH BUT MY BODY IS VERY WEAK. IT WILL
BE GOOD TO DIE. MY NAME IS ASTEL BRANO THAT IS
WHAT THAT CALL ME, MY AGE 18YEARS OLD. I AM IN
ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA. IF YOU MY BRETHREN DID NOT HEAR
>FROM ME AGAIN, PLEASE JUST TAKE HEART, BECAUSE GOD
BRINGS AND GOD TAKETH. BYE & GOD BLESS YOU ALL. HOPING
TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.
YOURS SISTER IN CHRIST JESUS,ASTEL.




---------------------------------
Building a website is a piece of cake.
Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.

Anti-fraud resources: