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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: "Barr. Alfonso D Juan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <aalfonsojuan@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 2009 15:37:52 +0200
Subject: My business proposal to you

Dear Sir/Madam,
Before I proceed, I must first apologize for this unsolicited letter to you. I am aware that this is certainly not a conventional way of approach to establish a relationship of trust, but I do have limited choice. My name is Alfonso D Juan a Solicitor working with EJC (Estudio Juridico Castellana) with address: C/Caracas Nš 16-5-33B, Madrid 28010 Spain.  Actually, I got your contact address from the internet while searching for a reputable business partner in your country's public records. My Late client, a business mogul who had casinos and restaurants, lived in Spain for many years, my client, his wife and their one child were involved in an underground train crash in the eastern city of Valencia as Victims of the Tuesday, 4 July 2006, Incident that befall the Spanish You can confirm through this website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5143738.stm Before his death, he deposits a trunk box worth Euros 8.5m (EIGHT MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND EUROS) in a well known security company here in Spain as a trunk containing family valuables. The security company has mandated me to present the heir/next of kin for claims, before the trunk gets confiscated or reverts as unclaimed property.  So I decided to search for any of my late client's relative which has been very difficult for me, as he did not declare any other person, address, partner or relatives in the official paper works of his deposit. 
Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand as the next of kin to my client, with my position as his lawyer, I will now appoint and recognize you as the heir. I will obtain every relevant document from the probate to make your claim legal. Note that this process is not risky in any manner and it is completely legal but might not be justified morally. He was my private client, I will not like you to involve any third party in this transaction, just me and you .Besides I am doing this on my own personal capacity and do not wish to bring my office into it. Once the fund is released to you, I am proposing 40% of the total sum to you for your involvement.10% would be set aside for any expenses that could be incurred during the transaction I would retain 50% for myself.
Note that when the whole documents are ready, I will direct you on how to approach the security company and make application for the release of the deposit. If this proposal does offend your moral values please pardon me otherwise reply via my private email address: aalfonsojuan@aol.com for further clarification. Please be kind to get back to me if you are not interested so that I can further my search for another partner.
Best Regards
Alfonso D Juan (ESQ)

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