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. SMITH SCOTH" <smithscoth3@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: "MR. SMITH SCOTH" <mr.smithscoth@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:56:24 -0700
Subject: DEAR FRIEND

Greetings to you .This mail might come to you as a surprise and
the temptation to ignore it as seriousness could come into your mind;
but please, consider it a divine wish and accept it with a deep sense of humility. My name is Mr.Smith Scoth, I'm a 65 years old man. I am
British living in Cambodia . I was a merchant and owned two businesses
in Dubai.

I was also married with two children. My wife and two
children died in a car accident six years ago. Before this happened my
business and concern for making money was all I lived for. I never
really cared about other values in life. But since the loss of my
family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families. I have
been helping orphans in orphanage/ motherless homes. I have donated some
money to orphans in Sudan, South Africa,Cameroon,Brazil,Austria,
Spain,Germany and some Asian countries.

Before I became ill,I
kept $8.5 Million in a long-term deposit account in a Finance House in
Cambodia .Presently,I'm in a hospital where I have been undergoing
treatment for esophageal cancer. It is my last wish to see this money
distributed to charity organizations. Because relatives and friends have
laundered so much of my wealth since my illness,I cannot live with the
agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them.

Please,I beg you in the name of the Lord to help me collect the deposit and distributes it amongst charity organizations.

Use
your judgment to distribute the money and feel free to reimburse
yourself when you have the money for any cost you incur during the
process

I'm willing to offer you a reward If you are willing to
help;please reply to my private email : mr.smithscoth@gmail.com as soon
as you can.

Regards,

Scoth

Anti-fraud resources: