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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: whbraunlich@brblaw.net
Reply-To: federalreservebank688@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2021 00:43:29 +0100
Subject: Dr John C. Williams

From the Desk Of Dr. John C. Williams

Federal Reserve Bank, New York.

From the records of outstanding beneficiaries due for payment with Federal Government of U.S.A. Your name was discovered as next on the list out of the 11 outstanding beneficiaries who have not yet received their payments during the tenure of the previous administration office.
Please bear with us for making this initial contact through text.

Meanwhile, a woman came to us a few days ago with a letter claiming to be your true representative and is willing to come up with $450 to have the funds delivered to her.

Please do reconfirm to this bank as a matter of urgency if this woman is from you or not so that the federal government will not be held responsible for paying into wrong account. If this woman is not your representative, you are requested to fill and send this information for verification purpose so that your fund valued at $9,500,000 will be remitted in to your nominated bank account or delivered to you.

Your full name:
Mobile Number:
Occupation:
Home Address:

You are to reply to this text as soon as possible okay.

Sincerely,
Dr John C. Williams
Director Federal Reserve Bank

Anti-fraud resources: