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. Duke Taylor" <fotopoulos1@ameritech.net>
Reply-To: duke_taylor1@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2015 07:45:38 -0700
Subject: reply

My Dear,
I am looking for your help to be my investor in your country, if you can assure me safety and trust of the fund as you receive it. I humbling appreciate your time to go through this message. My name is Mr. Duke Taylor from Monrovia, Liberia. I discovered your email through extensive web email search on directory, so I decided to contact you. I know this might sound like game to you because of the activities going on in the internet today even in the church. But I assure you that this is not a joke and I know you are capable to handle this project. So I write you this letter in good faith as it pleases you, for us to make progress.

I lodge the sum of Forty Six Million Dollars in an escrow account for safe keeping. So I want you to help me invest this fund into any profitable business.

Absolutely, I am writing to seek your help as a faithful person to stand and accept to receive this money in your country as my partner and investor. If this request matches with your inward intention for success and greatness, then you are urged to make a quick response indicating your interest and readiness to work with me to make this successful.


I am looking forward to hear from you.

Kind regards,
Mr. Duke Taylor

Anti-fraud resources: