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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: "Engineer Martin Akuabata" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <engrakuabatamartin1965@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 6 May 2016 10:08:48 +0100
Subject: Re: ..Greetings.. ....

 
Greetings,
 
I am engineer. Martin Akuabata, I have just resumed in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) remittance department here as the Senior Engineer in charge of CBN computer/Control Room.
 
During a recent close study of information in our Central Computer Hard Disc, I discovered a floating amount USD15 Million which represents your overdue payment but no one is opting to receive these funds or asking about it with keen interest.
 
I therefore take this opportunity to ask why you have abandoned this payment and to know if you would need my assistance in any way to remit part of the money to you.
 
Your payment must have passed through all normal Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Payment procedures to get to the remittance department, meaning that there is no major reason for further delay in transferring your funds. Hence, I know that you may be faced with the problem of "whom do you know"?
 
May I know whom you are presently dealing with and what is the cause of delay? I know I can help you by gradual remittance process of about Usd500,000.00 to USD1.5 Million in each transaction with a "Proxy Disk". But it has to be kept confidential between me and you! Let me know what you think about this.
 
I will explain to you more when I hear from you.
 
Remain Bless,
 
 

Anti-fraud resources: