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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Weeks-Brown <xx@yy>
Reply-To: <Weeks-Brown@outlook.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2022 22:18:03 -0700
Subject: Re: my sincere apologies for the inconvenience

Dear Sir,
With due respect and humble submission I would like to draw your attention to certain matters which we identified during our audit of the financial statements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the year 2021. During the course of our initial audit of the financial statements, we identified unclaimed funds which were approved in your name but have not been paid to the beneficiary.
It has been brought to our attention that you have been going through hard ways to see to the release of your fund which has been unnecessarily delayed by Payoneers. We understand the impact that this delay has had in your business and want to reassure you that it will not happen again.
Based on the record in our computer database, after we have verified your payment file your outstanding payment including accrued interest payable, is $27,960,000 [Twenty-seven million, nine hundred and sixty thousand, US dollars] only.

It gives me an immense pleasure to inform you that consequent upon ceaseless and sincere efforts of our visionary, Chief Economist of IMF, Ms Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova, the current Managing Director (MD) and Chairwoman of the IMF has approved your payment and issued a Cashier Check valued at ($27,960,000) in your name. All you need to receive your entire funds in a cashier’s check is (Notarized Claimant Affidavit) from International Court of Justice for the release of this sum of money to you as the sole beneficiary, which is a laid down procedure in the financial institution for a situation like this and it is a basic requirement for you to successfully claim the funds.
We usually ship out items to recipients given address in 1 - 2 business days once we confirm your payment, at the same time, we will email a new invoice to you with the tracking number, you will be tracking your parcel online in 48 hours till you receive it. Please write down your real and correct name and shipping address, including the postal code and your phone number carefully and completely.
Your cooperation in this regard will be highly appreciated.

With kindest regards,


Rhoda Weeks-Brown
Chief legal officer, Legal Department
IMF

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