joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "robert atorbatele" <robert101robert@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: robertatorbatele101@yahoo.it
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:18:11 -0500
Subject: WE NEED YOUR HELP/CONFIDENTIAL.

Mr. Robert Atorbatele.
Zurich, Switzerland

Att: Dear Friend.

Sorry if this letter surprise you.

I am Robert Atorbatele financial adviser and inlaw
to President Charles Taylor of Liberia who left
office on Monday 11th August 2003. Most recently
the President Bush administration mandated my inlaw
to resign as the president of liberia or face
war, which was followed with an embargo on arms
importation to help us fight the rebels that have
made the nation ungovernable for several years.
This we understand is political rather than
humanitarian like they said hence the war has been
on for 14 years and only recently we blocked our
sea port that have been a gateway for the Western
World and our neighbouring country Sierra Leone's
they use for diamond and precious stones sales.
Within two weeks of the declaration, a United Nations
backed by court in Sierra Leone brought a war crimes
indictments and warrant arrest against President
Charles Taylor but our Dutch lawyer Michail Wladimiroff
and financial adviser Steven yohann still maintain that
the indictment and arrest warrant of President Charles
Taylor impugn the honor and reputation of the Presidency
of Liberia and its sovereignty and that it flots the
principle that foreign judicial powers may not be
exercised in another country.

Following this ugly incident, the head of the African
Union President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, the
head of Economic Community of West African States,
ECOWAS President Kuffour of Ghana and the South African
President Mr. Thabo Mbeki met and arranged for President
Charles Taylor to leave office and go into Exile in
Nigeria since the Nigerian government through their
President has assured that they will not hand him over
for prosecution. He handed over power to his deputy
on Monday 11th August 2003 and left for Nigeria with
his second wife Jewel,6 childrenand over 23 personals
while I left for Swiss with my family and sister, his
first wife and 3 of their children.

In view of this, I hereby solicit for your assistance
to help us receive on behalf of charles taylor about
Seventheen Million Five hundred United States Dollars
(US$17.5M) for investment in your country to help take
care of my inlaw and his large family now in Nigeria.
This fund is currently with a security firm in Europe
and about{us$12.5m} in a bank in {millan} Italy.

further details will be made available to you upon your
acceptance to help us. He does not want to come into
the picture for security reasons but needs to survive
in exile too. Please note that this transaction is
confidential but will never endanger you or us in any
way as modalities have been put in place for the smooth
transfer of the fund to any account of your choice.
Should you now wish to go into partnership with me, 30%
only will be given to you for your assistance.and (10%)
will bemapped out for reimburesment of any expenses
incured by the two parties( your party and my party)
during the tranfer of this fund into your account.
please destroy this letter if you can't help. DO NOT DISCLOSE.

Best Regards,

Mr.Robert Atorbatele.


Anti-fraud resources: