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: "IMF OFFICE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: < internationalmonitoryfundoffice@minister.com>
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2017 07:36:08 +0900
Subject: FROM IMF OFFICE


ATTN DEAR,

THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FUND IN AFRICA IS THAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH WRONG DIRECTIONS, WHICH HAS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO SUCCEED IN COMPLETING THE PROCESS AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS, I WILL BE VERY OPEN TO TELL YOU THAT ALL INFO YOU RECEIVED SO FAR WAS ALL LIES AND IT IS ABOUT EXTORTING MONEY FROM YOU.

I KNOW YOU DON’T KNOW ME IN PERSON, I AM DR. RICHARD PHYNO, THE NEWLY APPOINTED IMF DIRECTOR, FEW DAYS AGO AS I WAS GOING THROUGH SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS AND FILES IN MY DESK I CAME ACROSS YOUR PAYMENT DATA, AS I GO THROUGH THE DATA I DISCOVERED THAT YOU HAVE UNPAID INHERITANCE FUND IN AFRICA AND ALL YOUR ATTEMPTS TO CLAIM THE FUND FAILED AWFULLY DUE TO MISLEADING BY THOSE THAT CLAIMS TO BE HELPING YOU. WELL, AS I DIG DEEPER WITH MY INVESTIGATIONS I ALSO DISCOVERED THAT PREVIOUS PERSON WHO CLAIMS TO BE HELPING YOU TO RECLAIM YOUR UNPAID FUND WAS NEVER HONEST TO YOU.

WHAT PROMPT ME TO CONTACT YOU IS BECAUSE I DISCOVERED THROUGH MY INVESTIGATIONS THAT PROF. PHILIP ADAMS AND SOME CORRUPT BANK OFFICIALS ARE NOW PLANNING TO DIVERT YOUR FUND TO SOMEONE´S FOREIGN ACCOUNT. AS I AM TALKING TO YOU TODAY THEY ARE WORKING SERIOUSLY HARD TO TRANSFER YOUR FUND TO A FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT BELONGING TO ALEXANDER MOORE, ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS?

LISTEN MY DEAR, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WHAT I AM OFFERING YOU TODAY IS A LIFELINE AND OPPORTUNITY TO RECLAIM YOUR UNPAID $2 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLAR AND PUT THESE CORRUPT OFFICIALS TO SHAME.

I CAN STOP THEM BUT TO DO THAT, YOU WILL HAVE TO TRUST AND BELIEVE IN ME, AND ALSO REMOVE EVERY THOUGHT OF NEGATIVITY FROM YOU AND FOLLOW MY DIRECTIVES THAT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN HELP YOU STOP THEM AND GUIDE YOU TO THE PERSON WHO WILL HELP TRANSFER YOUR FUNDS TO YOU WITHOUT STRESS AND FURTHER DELAYS.

SO IF YOU ARE READY AND WILLING TO RECLAIM YOUR UNPAID FUND KINDLY RESPOND IMMEDIATELY AND I WILL DIRECT YOU TO THE PERSON WHO WILL TRANSFER YOUR FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHOUT DELAY.

I SHALL BE EXPECTING TO READ FROM YOU.
REGARDS,
DR. RICHARD PHYNO

Anti-fraud resources: