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"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: "United Nations" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mr.godwinemefiele@core.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:57:51 -0700
Subject: UNITED NATION COMPENSATION UNIT.

ZENITH BANK COMPENSATION UNIT, IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNITED NATION.
 
Greetings,
 
Note! after series of meeting that lasted for three (3) days with the secretary General to the UNITED NATIONS General Ban Ki-Moon. You fall on the names submitted to receive a United Nations Compensation. This goes to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world, the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of US$300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) This includes every foreign contractors that may have not received their contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc.
 
Your name and email was in the list submitted by our Monitoring Team of Economic and Financial Crime Commission observers (EFCCO) and this is why we are contacting you, this have been agreed upon and have been signed. You are advised to contact Mr. Godwin Emefiele of ZENITH BANK OF NIGERIA PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your International Bank Draft of USD$300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) This funds are in a Bank Draft for security purpose he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice. Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your correct mailing address where you want her to send the draft to.
 
Person to Contact Mr. Godwin Emefiele
Email: mr.godwinemefiele@core.com         
Direct Mobile Number: +234-802-808-0731
 
Making the world a better place
Good luck and kind regards,
Mr. Ban ki Moon
Secretary (UNITED NATIONS).

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