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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Alexey Leonov" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <xeyleonov@yandex.ru>
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 04:11:57 +0100
Subject: Information about Disbursement Offer..

I have sent you this message because of the need to open discussions with you. I don't want you to misunderstand this offer in any aspect, if it is okay with you I ask for your full co-operation. I am Alexey Leonov, a retired cosmonaut/Air Force Major General and a business man. Due to my age and some health challenges which has defiled all forms of medical treatment and according to the medical experts it is a terminal so I do not know how much longer I have to live. I know that there is more to live than travelling round the orbit and making all the money in the world.

Recently I received a bulk payment from Azerbaijan Ministry for one of my contracts there. I instructed them specifically not to send the Funds to Russia, but that the funds should be deposited with a Finance and Security company in Europe on hold. A huge cash deposit of $28,OOO,OOO.OO was domiciled with the Finance/Security Company overseas to my knowledge only. This is one of my last assets, now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore; I therefore need you as a partner because you are a neutral party to help me collect these funds deposited with the security company and disburse it secretly based on my instructions.

Because my time is short I have decided to give most of this money to Charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on earth. For all your good efforts you will receive 30% of the Funds and disburse the rest based on my instructions. I want you to understand my seriousness in this case and if you can handle this transaction, kindly contact me as soon as possible for further discussion.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Best Regards,

Mr. Alexey Leonov
xeyleonov@gmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: