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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: "JAMES" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <attorneypaj1963@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2014 00:12:24 +0800
Subject: FROM PICKFORD ANTHONY JAMES

Dear Sir,
 
I have an outstanding invioce of $889,533,23  owed to me by an American company for about 9 months now.
I want you to look for debt collectors to collect the money on your behalf.
I will make you an administrator and once they collect the debt,they will pay it to you and you can use
it for your project.
 
So now start calling debt collectors,usualyy Business to Business debt collectors or attorneys.
Once you get a good one,let me know so I can send you the invioce and the company information you
can sign up with them.
I know the company will pay  once the debt collector contacts them,Very Important please
 
Respectfully,
Pickford Athony James

Anti-fraud resources: