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: "Han Janssen" <tomgatebmw@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:11:26 +0100
Subject: CONTACT OUR CLAIMS AGENT:MR.TOM GATE


THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
22 Garden Close, Stamford,
Lincs, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom.
Reference Number:2551256003/23
Dear Winner,
Your Reference Number:2551256003/23 drew to the lucky number: 29
Congratulations, you have just won a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon
car and a cash prize of £500,000.00 in the satellite software email
lottery.Online Sweepstakes International program held on 16th of July 2008
conducted by BMW LOTTERY BOARD in which your e-mail addresses was pick
randomly by software powered by the Internet.
CONTACT OUR CLAIMS AGENT:MR.TOM GATE
TEL:+44-703-195-5764
Email:tomgatebmw@hotmail.co.uk <Email%3Atomgatebmw@hotmail.co.uk>
Forward the following details to enable us clear your file for immediate
payment and delivery of your winnings:
1.Full Names:2.Address:3.Age:4.Sex:5.Occupation:6.Phone numbers:7.Fax
number:8.Country:9.Won Before:
Yours faithfully,
Mr.Han Janssen.

Anti-fraud resources: