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: Usman Lama <l_ama041@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 08:33:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: HELLO DEAR,


Hello Dear,

My name is Mr.Usman Lama, Please kindly permit me of my desire to inform you about this deal which I have been wrapping up for years now. Although this proposal may come to you as a suprise, but I would want you to understand that this deal is 100% legal and risk free, though it requires confidentiality. What I need from you is trust and your honest coperation for us to execute this project, get back to me.

Upon your acceptance of this proposal we shall discuss the modality of the success of this investment..

I await your urgent response.

Yours faithfully,
Mr Usman Lama

between 0000-00-00 and 9999-99-99

Anti-fraud resources: