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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: John Larry <john_larry40@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:17:36 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: URGENT ATTENTION SIR


GOOD DAY
DEAR FRIEND,
WITH WARM HEART I OFFER MY FRIENDSHIP, AND GREETINGS, AND I HOPE THIS MAIL MEETS YOU IN GOOD TIME. HOWEVER STRANGE OR SURPRISING THIS CONTACT MIGHT SEEM TO YOU, AS WE HAVE NOT MET PERSONALLY OR HAD ANY DEALINGS IN THE PAST, I HUMBLY ASK THAT YOU TAKE DUE CONSIDERATION OF ITS IMPORTANCE AND IMMENSE BENEFIT. I MUST APOLOGIZE TO YOU FOR USING THIS MEDIUM TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
I AM LOOKONG FOR RELIABLE AND CAPABLE FOREIGNER THAT
WILL/CAN HELP ME HANDLE THIS TRANSACTION WITH CONFIDENTIALLITY, BECAUSE THIS IS A TRANSFER OF HUGE SUM OF MONEY (USD$18.5M DOLLARS).
I AM BARRISTER JOHN PAUL LARRY, AN AFRICAN BORN NIGERIAN CITIZEN, AND I AM THE PERSONAL ATTRONEY TO LATE MR. SUNNY ZHONG, A FOREIGN NATIONALITY, WHO USED TO WORK WITH JULIUS BERGER NIGERIA PLC. ON 20TH AUGUST 2003, MY LATE CLIENT MR.SUNNY ZHONG WAS INVOLVED IN A GHASTLY MOTOR ACCIDENT WITH HIS FAMILY, DURING WHICH HE LOST HIS LIFE WITH HIS WIFE AND TWO CHILDREN.
UNFORTUNATELY, SINCE WE GOT THE INFORMATION ABOUT HIS SUDDEN DEATH, AND THE UGLY INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED, THE MANAGEMENT OF THIS HONOURABLE CHAMBERS, HAS MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES ON LOCATING ANY OF HIS EXTENDED RELATIVES TO CLAIM HIS ESTATE (USD$18.5M DOLLARS) HE LEFT BEHIND IN CUSTODY ZENITH BANK. BUT ALL THESE SEVERAL EFFORTS ALSO PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL AND YIELDED NO GOOD RESULTS.
NOW AS THE PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO THE DECEASED(LATE MR. SUNNY ZHONG), I ALSO MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES LOCATING A POSSIBLE NEXT OF KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT, THROUGH THEIR EMBASSY HERE IN NIGERIA, BUT ALL TO NO AVIL.
WHAT I ACTUALLY WANT TO DO NOW IS TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE LATE MR. SUNNY ZHONG TO ENABLE US PLACE CLAIM ON HIS DEPOSITED SUM OF US$18.500.000.00, DEPOSITED WITH ZENITH BANK BEFORE HIS UNTIMELY DEATH. AND I AM CONTACTING YOU TO ASSIST IN CLAIMING THE STATED SUM HE LEFT BEHIND BEFORE THE BANK GET THE FUNDS CONFISCATED OR DECLARED UNSERVICEABLE BY THEIR BANK.THIS INTENSION BECOMES VERY URGENT DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE
ZENITH BANK, AND GOVERNMENT POLICY BANKING LAWS HERE IN NIGERIA DEMANDS THAT IF SUCH FUNDS REMAINS UNCLAIMED AFTER THREE (3-4) YEARS, THAT BANK IS LEGALLY EMPOWERED TO FREEZE SUCH ACCOUNT AND THE FUNDS TRANSFERRED INTO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESERVE ACCOUNT AS UNCLAIMED FUND.
RECENTLY, THE PAYING BANK ISSUED A NOTICE OF CONFISCATION, AS THE
ACCOUNT HAD REMAINED UNSERVICEABLE SINCE 2003, I WAS SUBSEQUENTLY GIVEN A MANDATE OF 21 OFFICIAL BANKING DAYS TO PRODUCE A NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED OR CONSIDER THE ACCOUNT FROZEN.
DUE TO TIME WASTING AND THE FACT THAT, I WAS UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOCATING ANY RELATIVE TO MY CLIENT (LATE MR. SUNNY ZHONG).
I THEN WISH TO SEEK YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE LATE MR. SUNNY ZHONG, SO THAT THE PROCEEDURES OF THIS ACCOUNT VALUED AT USD$18.500.000.00 CAN BE TRANSFERED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD YOU MAY DESIRE, FOR OUR OWN GENERAL BENEFIT INSTEAD OF ALLOWING HIS SWEAT GET LOST IN THE BANK, AND BE INFORMED THAT I HAVE IN MY POSSESSION ALL NECESSARY INFORMATION/EVIDENCE THAT WE SHALL REQUIRE TO BACK-UP OUR CLAIMS.
I SHALL FURNISH YOU WITH FURTHER DETAILS AS SOON AS YOU HAVE INDICATED YOUR INTEREST TO RENDER THE DESIRED ASSISTANCE. BEAR IN MIND THAT 50% OF THE FUND IS FOR ME, WHY 40% IS FOR YOU, AND 10% IS FOR TAX AND OTHER THINGS THAT WILL COME UP DURING THE TRANSACTION.
YOU ARE URGENTLY REQUIRED TO SEND TO ME THE FOLLOWING;
1)YOUR FULL NAME AND HOME ADDRESS
2)YOUR BANK NAME/ADDRESS/ACCOUNT NUMBER
3)YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER
4)YOUR DRIVERS LISCENSE OR INT'L PASSPORT
ALL THESE WILL ENABLE ME FILL IN YOUR NAMES AS THE BANK WILL REQUIRE ALL THIS FROM YOU IN FUTURE. SO YOU CAN CONTACT ME ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS: (barrister_jlarry@yahoo.com) STATED AS FOLLOWS, TO ENABLE US COMMENCE ACTIONS ON THIS DEAL INSTANTLY.
YOUR GENUINE HONEST COOPERATION IS REQUIRED TO ENABLE US ACHIEVE THIS PURPOSE. I GUARANTEE YOU THAT THE ENTIRE TRANSACTION WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT OF TIME.
I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE BY MAIL FOR MORE DISCUSSION.

BARRISTER JOHN PAUL LARRY




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Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

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