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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: <benard_williams2006@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:36:44 +0000
Subject: GOODDAY



From:Mr.Benard Williams.United Kingdom.Phone no: +447040117565Email: benard_williams2006@hotmail.com

Attn:Pls

My name is Mr.Benard Williams I work in the International operation Department in a Local Bank here in London, United Kingdom. On a routine inspection I discovered a dormant domiciliary account with a BAL.Of 36,000,000(Thirty Six Million Pounds.(BPS) on further discreet Investigation, I also discovered that the account holder has long since passed away (dead) leaving no beneficiary to the account.

The bank will approve this money to any foreigner because the former operator of the a/c is a foreigner and from America in particular and I am certainly sure that he is dead, and nobody will come again for the claim of this money A foreigner can only claim this money with legal claims to theaccount Holder;therefore I need your cooperation in this transaction. I will provide the necessary information needed inorder to claim this Money,But you will need to open an account where this can be transferred.

If interested send your private Telephone No. And Fax number including full details of the account to be used for the Deposit I wish for utmost confidentiality in handling this transaction as my job and the future of my family would be jeopardized if it were breached. I want to assure you that the transaction is without risk if due process is followed accordingly.Finally,I will give you 25% for your corporation.I look forward to a favorable response from you through this my Privateemail: benard_williams2006hotmail.com Regards, Mr Benard Williams.benard_williams2006@hotmail.com


Anti-fraud resources: