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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. Joy Max" <mrsjoymax229@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 11:45:17 +0100
Subject: Dear Beloved One , I am a widow I need your help. I am waiting for
your reply.

Dear Beloved One , I am a widow I need your help. I am waiting for your reply.

Please take your time to read this message; although we have never met
before, this is not spam. It's a real message sent to you. I sent this
mail praying for it to reach you in good health, since I myself am in
a very critical health condition in which I sleep every night without
knowing if I may be alive to see the next day.

I am Mrs. Joy Max, a widow suffering from a long time illness. I have
some funds I inherited from my late husband, the sum of €4,950,000.00
( Four million Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Euros ).my Doctor told
me recently that I would not last due to the illness. Having known my
condition, I decided to donate this funds to a reliable and
trustworthy person that will utilize it the way I am going to instruct
herein. I need a very honest and God fearing person who can claim the
funds on my behalf and use it for Charity works. Such as orphanages,
widows and also build schools for less privilege that will be named
after my late husband if possible.

I took this decision, because I and my late husband do not have any
child of our own who will inherit this money before I join my late
husband. Please I want your sincere and urgent answer to know if you
will be able to execute this project, and I will give you more
information on how the funds would be transferred to your bank
account. Please provide the information required below to enable the
bank complete the wire transfer process As the beneficiary you are
required to provide me with the following information as below:

More so, I shall need for my confirmation;

1.Your full names
2.Swift code
3.Your address
4.Account name
5.Account number
6.Address of the bank
7.Your direct telephone numbers
8.Name of your beneficiary bank

I am waiting for your reply.

Sincerely Yours,

Mrs. Joy Max.

Anti-fraud resources: