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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: Mrs Maria Santos <susanne.zulauf5@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mariasantos100002021@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 22 May 2022 07:23:47 -0700
Subject: RE

--
Hello

My sincere greetings and apologies to you. I would like to apologize
for my intrusion into your privacy. My name is Mrs Maria Santos,
Executive in the Accounting Department at Cimb Bank Philippines. An
account was opened in our bank on 09/06/2015 and since 2021, no
operation has taken place. This account is a credit account of Nine
million three hundred thousand euros. After consulting all the files
relating to this account, I realized that I could easily dispose of
this money if I managed to transfer it to an outside account, so I am
looking for an honest partner.

The owner of this account was late Mr. Hans Koch, German citizen (oil
refinery engineer) died following a traffic accident. Nobody knows to
date the existence of this account.

This account has no other close relatives. I would like you to help me
transfer this money to invest in any profitable businesses in your
country. After the transfer I offer you 40% for your help. This is a
real opportunity for you and I.

If you are interested please reply and be reassured that I have the
proof of my statements.

Sincere,

Mrs Maria Santos

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