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: "Janet L. Yellen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infofedresboard@freemail.hu>
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 2015 08:16:47 +0300
Subject: WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY....

U.S Bank Federal Reserve Board
Address: 33 Liberty Street, new York, NY 10038
 
 
Contract: fund credit from bank federal reserve board.
 
Attn: valued fund beneficiary,
 
This is officially to notify you personally that we received a valued amount of funds to credit instruction from the federal government of Nigeria bank CBN to credit your account with your full inheritance fund sum of us$10.5million from the Nigerian Federal Reserve account with our bank Federal Reserve Board in new York.
 
However, what we required from you is your full banking details where you want your fund to be transferred.
 
{1}. your full name and address:
{2}. your telephone or cell phone, and fax number
     for easy communication:
{3). your bank name and address:
{4). your a/c name and numbers:
(5). your swift code / routing numbers:
(6). your occupation:
(7). your id or international passport copy.
(8). your alternative email:
 
Be informed that transfer will commence immediately we hear from you with the account information. Once more, bank federal reserve board will not hesitate to credit your account within 24hours in accordance with fund Release order regulations.
 
Your immediate response is highly needed to enable us commence for the transfer.
 
Thanks for banking with Federal Reserve Bank while we looking forward to serving you better.
 
 
Thanks and God Bless You.
 
Best regards,
 
Janet L. Yellen (Chairman)
Federal Reserve Bank New York
 

Anti-fraud resources: