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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: JAMES SMITH <jamesmith.dept@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2023 18:03:17 +0100
Subject: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)
700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20431 U.S.A

I am Dr. JAMES SMITH, of the newly inaugurated International Monetary
Fund (IMF). Dear friend, my committee has a mandate to recover unpaid
debts associated with NNPC Lump sum contract, lottery funds,
inheritance funds, Consignment Boxes, loans and grants, ranging from
$1M and above, owed to various beneficiaries and companies across the
globe via (Asia, Europe, USA, Africa, & Australia). This message is to
notify you about the Board meeting held last week between IMF & UN
Secretary General. We have concluded arrangement to deliver your
unpaid fund to you, which we are here to inform you about our plan to
remit your fund payment to you via any of these options herein- Bank
Wire Transfer or Cash-Consignment Boxes. I decided to contact you
personally because of the prevailing financial report reaching my
office and the intense nature of policy here in Washington, D.C. Your
name was among the shortlisted beneficiaries on our database, hence we
are contacting you today to compensate you with the sum of
US$8,500,000.00. Kindly reconfirm your full detailed information to
this office below. I will make use of my position here in the office
to release your long overdue fund payment to you. All you are required
to do now, is to reconfirm your information to this office and include
your photo ID for identification purposes. You're advised to contact
this office within 48hrs of receiving this mail from this
organization.

1. Your Full Names:...............
2. Your Age & Sex:................
3. Your Occupation:...............
4. Your Marital Status:...........
5. Your Mobile Number:............
6. Your Home address:.............

Finally, you are advise to kindly respond back to this email with the
above requested information for immediate commencement and processing
of your funds payment to you. Be kind to use part of this fund to help
the needy and the less-privileges in your society.

Warm regards,
Dr. JAMES SMITH,
Dir, Foreign Operations Dept,
Int'l Monetary Fund & Payment (IMF)

Anti-fraud resources: