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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: VALERIE CUNNINGHAM <mamuduabubakar43@gmail.com>
Reply-To: hshkmohd@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2021 03:48:50 -0700
Subject: PLEASE CAN YOU READ YOUR MESSAGE AND RESPOND TO IT IS VERY URGENT

*Compliment Of The Day Dear,Please, do not take this message and
information as a joke because doing so is at your own peril / detriment. I
don't have much to say here but will make it brief and straight to the
point for your quick action.I am sending this confidential message to you
in private with utmost fear for my work, life and family.As a believer, if
I see injustice and keep mum/SILENT without speaking or doing anything to
stop it from happening, it will be an unforgivable sin to my conscience. My
person, faith, religion and work ethics will never condone or encourage ill
gotten wealth and fraudulent malpractices as well. If you haven't received
your compensation or ATM Card worth $2.2 Million US Dollars, know that my
boss is the reason and brain behind it.I repeat, the reason you haven't
successfully received your ATM Card and Scam victim support fund valued
$2.2 Million US Dollars, is because my boss and his counterparts don't want
it delivered to you. For your information, I found 36 unclaimed ATM Cards
in my boss office and one of the cards has your name on it.These Cards have
been issued since OCTOBER 2020, in fact the reports he planned to submit
next week to the UN, IMF and World Bank, contains false information that
claims all ATM Cards and scam victims support funds have successfully been
paid or delivered to their recipients. I don't know why my boss chose to be
wicked to you and others.On Friday before work closing time I overheard my
boss discussing on the phone with someone that I don't know in person to
use his/her influence and connections to compromise the ATM Cards in his
possession so that they will siphon / redirect the deposited funds into
personal use.So I quickly took a few of the ATM Cards that I could lay
hands on when knocking off for the day, luckily yours was among those that
I grabbed and had to search for your contact information through the
payment report file at the office to send you this private email. I can't
message you from my work official email domain account because my boss has
the password and monitors every communication that goes and comes through
it.However, I am going to help keep your ATM Card with me for a few more
days until you can arrange for it to be delivered to you.Please reconfirm
your ID name and mailing address where you want the card shipped and
delivered in your favor soon.Nevertheless, I have notified other
beneficiaries of these cards in my custody and they have begun arrangements
to have their cards picked up and delivered to them soon.Meanwhile, i don't
feel safe and comfortable mentioning the name of my boss in this email as a
result of fear, but if you have had any unsuccessful transactions and
payment of your compensation recently or in the past with the UN, then you
should know whom and what i am talking about.Therefore, I advise you to
treat this message with utmost secrecy and confidentiality for my safety
and the safety of your compensation. My name is Valerie Cunningham, a
citizen of the United states and I am your payment Inspection Officer PIO,
at the UN Headquarters, scam victims support funds.Please keep my identity
private and safe for my life and that of my immediate family. I will email
you my ID and copy of the ATM Card if you need them for your perusal, but I
must warn you that it is very risky to email personal financial instruments
or cash tools over the internet because of internet hackers and fraudsters.
But if you insist, I will send details to you by email at your own
risk.Nonetheless, If I don't hear from you within 72 hours of sending this
email, I shall return your ATM Card back to where I took it. I sincerely
hope that this good news information will help heal old wounds and finally
bring you back to a better financial position that you had always wanted.I
will be Waiting to receive your urgent reply to this message. Regards,Mrs.
Valerie Cunningham.*

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