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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: "NOSA FRANK" <omos4nosa1@msn.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:30:37 +0000
Subject: REPLY

Dear friend,
 
Please I beg your indulgence if this message comes to you as a surprise and may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and writing through this channel.  But I believe it is only a day that  people meet and become great friends and business partners or more.
 
I got your contact from a professional database found on the Internet while searching for a reliable and honest person.
 
Before I introduce myself, I wish to let you know that this letter is not a hoax mail and I beg you to treat it seriously.
 
 
My name is FRNAK NOSA , 49 years old. Managing Director, Bond Bank Plc.I am divorced, have 3 kids living with me at home. I'm 5'11 tall. black. I love animals. I have 2 dogs and 3 cats. I love to travel. I love the outdoors, swimming, riding, skeet shooting, etc..I have a healthy and active social life.
 
I used to head the accounts department in my bank head office, but last December, I was asked to take position of the Managing Director of the Bank who passed on, so that was how I became the present Managing Director.
 
As I resumed duty, I discovered an account with total sum of $5,410,000 million that has not been operated on for the past 4 years. From my investigation, I found out that this account belongs to one Mr. Morris Thompson an American great industrialist and a resident of Alaska, who unfortunately lost his life in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crashed on January 31 2000, including his wife and only daughter.
 
You shall read more news about the crash on visiting this site, which I got during my investigation;
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/  and http://www.nativefederation.org/history/people/mThompson.html
 
The account is escrow call account, a secret type of account in my bank and no other person knows about this account or any thing concerning it, the account has no other beneficiary. I have kept a close monitoring of the account since then and nobody has come forward to ask about the money as next of kin to Mr. Morris Thompson, meaning that no one is aware of the account. This is because Morris deposited this money with the bank while he was on business trip and no one in the United States is aware if he ever deposited such money outside the country.
 
I cannot directly take out this money without the help of a foreigner and that is why I am contacting you for an assistance to claim the funds and share it with me. As the Managing Director, I have the power to influence the release of the funds to any foreigner that comes up as the next of kin to the account, with the correct information concerning the account, which I shall give you.
 
I am seeking your co-operation to present you as the next of kin to the account, so that my bank head quarters will release the funds to you. There is practically no risk involved, the transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of law.
 
If you accept to work with me, I want you to state how you wish us to share the funds in percentage, so that both parties will be satisfied. Contact me as soon as you receive this message if you feel we can work together, so we can go over the details.
 
Thanking you in advance and may God bless you. Please, treat with utmost confidentiality.
 
I await your urgent response.
 
Regards,
 
   FRANK NOSA

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