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: "Ms. Carman L. Lapointe" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <l.lapointem@yahoo.cn>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:14:10 +0100
Subject: ATTENTION To: Unpaid Beneficiary,

From: Ms. Carman L. Lapointe
Head Of United Nations Under-Secretary-
General For Internal Oversight Services.
 
 
To: Unpaid Beneficiary,
 
 
This is to inform you that I came to Nigeria yesterday from Canada, after series of complaint from the FBI and other Security agencies from Asia,Europe, South America and the United States of America respectively, against the Federal Government of Nigeria and the British Government for the high volume of scam/fraudulent activities going on in these two nations.
 
 
For more information about me kindly click on the below link or copy and paste on your web browser.
 
 
http://www.un.org/Depts/oios/pages/usg.html
 
 
Right now, as directed by UN secretary General named Ban Ki-Moon we are working in collaborations with the Nigerian Financial Crime Commission/agencies and we have decided to waive away all your clearance fees/Charges and authorized the Government of Nigeria to effect your overdue payment worth $10.5M only into your account without any delay as approved your funds transfer as instructed by CANADIAN government and UNITED NATIONS. But the only fee you will pay to receive your fund is the Notarization fee. Upon your request, I will tell you the amount and also send you the payment information you will use in sending the Notarization fee.
 
 
Honestly, you are a lucky person because I have just discovered that some top Nigerian and Canadian Government Officials are interested in your funds and they are working in collaboration with One Mr. Richard Graves from USA to divert your fund into his personal account so they could share thereafter.
 
 
Note that I have a very limited time to stay in Nigeria here so I would like you to urgently respond to this message with your
 
 
Full name:
Home address:
Direct phone number:
 
 
So that I can advise you on how best to confirm your fund in your account within the next 72 hours. Once again, the only fee you will pay to receive your fund is the Notarization fee. Upon your request, I will tell you the amount and also send you the payment information you will use in sending the Notarization fee.
 
 
You can reach me with below information:
 
 
Name: Ms. Carman L.Lapointe
Email Address: l.lapointem@yahoo.cn
 
 
Sincerely yours,
Ms. Carman L.Lapointe
Head Of United Nations Under-Secretary
General For Internal Oversight Services.

Anti-fraud resources: