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: "Mr Christopher James" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <atmcard_1canter@itbox.ro>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 05:44:17 -0500
Subject: IRREVOCABLE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT,,,

MY GOOD FRIEND,
 
THIS IS TO OFFICIALLY INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE WORLD BANK, UN SECRETARY  GENERAL AND INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) TO ARRANGED AND APPROVE YOUR PAYMENT OF $2.5MILLION USD, THROUGH VISA DEBIT CREDIT PAYMENT CARD, CENTER ASIA PACIFIC,THIS CARD CENTER WILL SEND YOU AN ATM CARD WHICH YOU WILL USE TO WITHDRAW YOUR MONEY IN ANY ATM MACHINE IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD, BUT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT YOU WILL BE WITHDRAWING EVERY DAY IS THREE THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS PER DAY.
 
THE ATM CARD NUMBER 4000 1050 1236 8608, HAVE BEEN CREDITED IN YOUR FAVOR. YOUR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION PIN NUMBER IS 2904; TO FILE FOR YOUR CLAIM PLEASE CONTACT THE REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OFFICER, MR. WILLIAMS ROBERT ON HIS EMAIL BELOW. NOTE THAT YOUR ATM CARD HAVE BEEN SHIFTED TO NIGERIA, THEN SEND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION AS STATED BELOW FOR THE DELIVERY. 
 
YOUR FULL NAME.............................
YOUR ADDRESS...............................
YOUR COUNTRY...............................
YOUR AGE...................................
YOUR OCCUPATION............................
YOUR PHONE NUMBER.........................
Note: The delivery of your ATM Card by the Courier service depends on the terms and Agreement of the delivery firm. This ATM Card unit is not liable for any damage or your inability to meet up with the claims requirement.
 
HOWEVER, KINDLY CONTACT THE BELOW PERSON WHO IS IN POSITION TO RELEASE YOUR ATM VISA DEBIT CARD.CONTACT PERSON: MR. WILLIAMS ROBERT,DIRECTOR,ATM PAYMENT DEPARTMENT TEL: + EMAIL: atmcard_1canter@itbox.ro
 

Anti-fraud resources: