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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "HANG SENG BANK HONG KONG" (may be fake)
Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 10:20:39 +0200
Subject: LET US DO GOOD BUSINESS TOGETHER: My name is Dr.John C.Chan{JP} a South Korea Citizen and Director with Hang Seng Bank Ltd here in Hong-Kong.I want to transfer an accumulated sum of US$22.5 Million out of our bank to a safe personal/business account abroad. This US$22.5 Million has been in a suspense account for several years now. Our board of Directors had officially mandated me to search for the deceased next of kin,since all correspondences to the deceased last known address came back undelivered, I wa


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