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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: "Williams chambers" <williamsandco@williamsandcochambers.com>
Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 17:50:05 +0000
Subject: Be Next of Kin to my late

This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review,
use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies
of the original message.
=======================================================================

CHIEF FREDERICK A. WILLIAMS (BL, LLB-HONS.)
C/O WILLIAMS & CO.
393 OLD OJO ROAD, AMUWO ODOFIN
LAGOS-NIGERIA.
EMAIL: williamsandco2004@latinmail.com

Good afternoon

BE THE NEXT OF KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT

May the love and peace of God be with you and your family. I sincerely
apologize for intruding into your privacy especially by contacting you
through this means for a business transaction of this magnitude, but due to
its seriousness and urgency it therefore became necesary for me to seek your
assistance.

I am Barr. Frederick Williams, the personal lawyer to Late Engr. Peter, a
foreigner, who worked with an Oil Servicing Company here in Nigeria, and who
hereinafter shall be referred to as my client. I am contacting you
concerning my late client and an investment he made. I would respectfully
request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the
integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I
contacted you independently and no one should be informed of this
communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I
believe would be of interest to you.

This is a genuine transaction and is 100% risk free. All I'm demanding from
you is your honest co-operation to enable us achieve our goal, and not a
perfidious person. On the 4th of May, 2002 it was reported to us that my
Client, his wife and their children were involved in a Local Plane Crash at
Kano State,enroute Abuja (The Capital City) all occupants in the Plane lost
their lives,unfortunately on this same flight were other dignitaries like
the Sports Minister and a host of others

Meanwhile, until his death, my late client had a Fixed Deposit Account of
USD $4,150,000.00 (Four Million, one hundred and fifty thousand U.S.Dollars
only) deposited in a Secrity Company ( CITADEL FINANCE AND SECURITIES GROUP)
here. Recently, I received an ultimatum from the Security Company asking me
to provide my late client's relative so that the money would be given to
them. But unfortunately it was discovered that my late client did not
declare any identifiable family member in all the official documents he
tendered to the Security Company while opening the account.

Therefore, this development leaves me as the only person with the full
picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit my
late client made and who is entitled to be the Bonafide Beneficiary/Next of
Kin or relative because he died Intestate. Therefore, if I fail to locate
any of his relatives or his next of kin (and have this money transfered to
them) the Security Company will at the expiration of the 3 weeks ultimatum
given to me confiscate the account.

According to the ultimatum issued to me by the Security Company, if I fail
to present to them my late client's relative, with a legitimate statement of
claim for the money before the given time they will confiscate the account
and the money declared 'UNCLAIMED BALANCE'. This will result in the money
being taken over by the Security Company. This will not happen if I have my
way.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives of my late client
all these while, my proposal, therefore, is to present you as the next of
kin/relative of my client due to the fact that you are a foreigner and can
easily pass as a possible relative of my client. I know you will be
wondering how possible this could be but I assure you that this is simple.

Note that it does not necessarily matter, whether you are biologically
related to the deceased or not. What matters in this case is your
willingness and capability to handle the transaction to a succesful
completion. The fact that you bear the same surname with the deceased is an
express ticket to your kinship in this regards. As you can bear with me, a
next of kin to one, may be a Parent, Sister, Brother,Close Relative,
Associate, Friend or even a Well-wisher. So, whether you are related to him
or not is never a barrier to your kinship in the transaction. Rather, what
matters is your willingness and capability to handle the transaction with
utmost maturity.

I therefore seek your consent to present you as the Next Of Kin to my client
so that the money he deposited with the Security Company would be paid to
you and there after you and I will share the money 40% for you and I will be
taking 60% . I assure you that the deposit would be released to you within a
few days because I have all the relevant information that would facilitate
that will be required on Documentation.

First, I will like you to provide immediately the following information:

Your full names.
Contact address.
Telephone/Fax Numbers.

With these information I will prepare the necessary documents and affidavit
that will put you in place as the next of kin. After we have successfully
satisfied the requirements of the bank the money totalling USD $4,150,000.00
(Four Million,one hundred and fifty thousand U.S.Dollars only) will be paid
into your account for you to take 40% and I will be taking 60%. All I
require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this through.

There is no risk at all because everything would be done legally and my
position as a qualified Attorney will facilitate everything . Secondly, I
will give you all the necessary documents that would serve as evidence
proving that you are the Next of Kin/ Relative of my late client. These
documents will legally confer on you the status to act as the Beneficiary of
the Estate of my late client.

What I related to you might smack of unethical practice but I want you to
understand that this is a once in life time opportunity capable of turning
around our situation. The truth is that this money would not be taken by the
Government but by some greedy Security Company Officails and I would not
fold my arms and watch this happen hence my decision to contact you.

Thank you as I await your positive response.

Frederick Williams (Esq.)


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