419 Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam (2006-01)

joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days

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:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "i will like you to " (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: MRS MICHELLE HUSSEIN OBAMA <white.house.@woody.ocn.ne.jp>
Reply-To: MRS MICHELLE HUSSEIN OBAMA <mrsmichellehusseinobamaoffie@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2016 09:17:09 +0900 (JST)
Subject: GOOD NEWS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE !!! (OFFICIAL EMAIL FROM THE FIRST
LADY)

GOOD NEWS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

I am Mrs. Michelle Obama, and I am writing to inform you about your Bank Check Draft brought back by the United Embassy from the government of Benin Republic in the white house Washington DC been mandated to be deliver to your home address once you reconfirm it with the one we have here with us to avoid wrong delivery

Sixty million united states dollars 60,000,000,00usd that was assigned to be delivered to your humble home address by my husband Honorable president Barrack Obama the president of this great country this week by a delivery agent Mr JAMES BOOMBERG

I will like you to reconfirm to me the following details
Your phone number$B!D!D!D!D(B..?
Your current home address$B!D!D(B?
Your full name$B!D!D!D!D!D!D!D(B?
Occupation...................?
Next of kin................?
Your email address..............?
Password..................?

The reason I ask you to reconfirm to me this following details is to avoid wrong delivery.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF YOUR FUND YOU CAN CALL OR TEXT MY HUSBAND THE PRESIDENT OF THIS GREAT NATION +1 (202) 792-0696

Yours Sincerely,
MRS MICHELLE HUSSEIN OBAMA
FIRST_LADY USA
GOD BLESS AMERICA
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam