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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 ASSISTED PROGRAMMER <billy@wwcap.com>
Reply-To: <un.org4@blumail.org>
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:08:19 +0200
Subject: Attention: Beneficiary,

UNITED NATIONS ASSISTED PROGRAMMER.
DIRECTORATE OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT AND
TRANSFERS. UNITED NATIONS
WIRE TRANSFER/AUDIT UNIT
Attention: Beneficiary,
How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family? You may not understand why this mail came to you.
We have been having a meeting for the passed 3 months which ended 2 days ago with the then secretary to the UNITED NATIONS. This email is 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$ 900, 000, 00.
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, those that lost their house, job, relatives in Disaster etc. We found your name in our list and that is why we are contacting you, this has been agreed upon and has been signed.
You are advised to contact Mr Jim Ovia of ZENITH BANK NIGERIA PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your fund of Nine Hundred Thousand United States Dollars (USD$900, 000, 00) and also indicate how you wish to receive it either through bank to bank transfer or through  a VIA ATM CARD for security purpose OK? .
Therefore, you should send him your information as follows below.
Your full Name
Your contact address
Occupation
Sex/age,
Position in your office
Telephone number
A scan copy of your ID card.
Below is the Bank address, kindly contact them with the required information above.
Person to Contact: Mr Jim Ovia
Email:  infozeniithbank@kimo.com
Bank Name: ZENITH BANK PLC
Direct Line: +234-8130196568
DEPARTMENT: Foreign Transfer department.
Thanks and God bless you and your family. Hoping to hear from you as soon as you receive your fund.
UN............ Making the world a better place.
Regards,
Ban Ki-Moon.
United Nations
Secretary-General

Anti-fraud resources: