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: Antonis Liakos <a.liakos@outlook.com>
Date: 19 Sep 2019 11:26:52 -0700
Subject: Re: Request Reminder

Dear Friend,

I am indeed glad to be in contact with you even though this
medium of communication (internet) has been grossly abused by
criminal minded people making it difficult for people with
genuine intention to correspond and exchange views without
skepticism.

My previous posts were returned as undelivered. I am making a
final attempt to reach you again. I am Mr Antonis Liakos, the
Auditor General, Bank of Greece{BKG} . In the course of my
auditing, I discovered a floating fund in an account, which was
opened in 1999 belonging to a dead foreigner who died in 2002.
Every effort made to track any member of his family or next of
kin has since failed; hence I got in contact with you to stand as
his next of kin. He died leaving no heir or a will, I will
explain my intention to you if only you are INTERESTED and I can
TRUST you.

Regards,

Mr. Antonis Liakos

Anti-fraud resources: