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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: "Mrs. Joan Williams" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <joanwilliams.mrs1@vp.pl>
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2018 07:43:17 -0700
Subject: Attention Please!!!

Attention Please,
I am Mrs. Joan Williams a British by nationality, I was delegated from our U.N.O office in Switzerland to come to Africa to supervise the payment of scam victims, which your name happen to be on the list to be compensated,
 
Thanks for putting the issue of Mr. John Tsai to rest, he has been parading himself as your representative and fabricating the rumor that you are dead, but thanks we know better now. We have already tipped the Inspector of General of Police of Nigeria to go after him and get him arrested.
 
Your compensation fund is valued at $5 Million, you will receive this without hitches. The U.N.O which I represent has mandated the government of Nigeria to pay out this fee to scam victims. So you shall be paid from their account with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
 
We have put measure in place to stop any avenue that will require you to pay money upfront, so we cannot advocate that the CBN wire fund directly to your bank account as this will attract fee.
 
The best option to avoid fee is that we shall open an account for you with Zenith bank of Nigeria at no cost and the fund $5Million will be wired into the account from the CBN. Then you will have online access to the newly opened account and at the convenience of your laptop or phone you can transfer money from the account online to any destination of your choice.
 
You are compulsorily required to reconfirm the following information.
 
(1) Your Full Name:
 
(2) Your Valid ID card:
 
(3) Your Occupation:
 
(4) Your Mobile Phone Number:
 
(5) Your Home Address:
 
(6) Your Marital Status:
 
At the receipt of this information we shall send your payment file to the CBN for further fund transfer processing.
 
I will attach my official ID card to you in my next mail for your perusal.
 
Note that this transaction needs urgent response.
 
Regards
 
Mrs. Joan Williams
Contact Email:  joanwilliams.mrs1@vp.pl

Anti-fraud resources: