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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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Fraud email example:

From: "BRIGHT OLOWU" <bright_union_bank126@msn.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2005 01:56:55 +0000
Subject: URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED !!

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Mr Bright Olowu, I work in the credit and accounts department of
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc,Lagos, Nigeria.

I write you in respect of a foreign customer with Domiciliary A/C number
6402356789. His name is Engineer Joseph Schultzman. He was among those who
died in a plane crash here in Nigeria.

Since the demise of this our customer, Engineer Joseph Schultzman, who was
an oil merchant/contractor, I have kept a close watch of his deposit records
and accounts and since then no body has come to claim the money in this
account as the Next- of- kin to the late Engineer. He had US$5.2Million in
his Account and the a/c is coded. It is only an insider that could produce
the code or password of the deposit particulars. As it stands now, there is
nobody in that position to produce the needed information other than my very
self considering my position in the bank. Based on the reason that nobody
has come forward to claim the deposit as the deceased Next -of- kin,

I hereby ask for your co-operation in using your name as the next of kin to
the deceased to send these funds out to a foreign offshore Bank Account for
mutual sharing between myself and you. At this point I am the only one with
the information because I have removed the deposit file from the safe .

By this doing, what is required of you is to send an application laying
claims of the deposit as next of kin to the late Engineer. I will need your
full name and address, telephone Num company Name or residential Address, so
that i can computerize them to tally with next of kin column in the
certificate of deposit.

Finally I want you to understand that the request for a foreigner as the
next of kin is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and
for that reason alone, a locale cannot represent as next of kin. When you
contact me, then we shall discuss on how the money will be split between us.
Trusting to hear from you,write me through my personal email
address(bright_olowu@yahoo.com )

My Regards,

Bright Olowu


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