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: Larry Johnson <mrlarryjohnson77@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrlarryjohnsontt@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2010 01:44:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: RECONFIRMATION



Attn

This letter is written to you in order to change your life from today.I am Mr.Larry Johnson the Director,International Remittance Department of this Bank,my Boss,Mr.Jacobs M.Ajekigbe the Managing Director/CEO of this Bank is now on compulsory leave and all power have been vested on me to make all international payments.Also due to reported cases of corrupt practices in other Nigeria Banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria,the Federal overnment has revoked/cancelled all power vested on those Banks and have appointed our Bank (First Bank of Nigeria)to make all foreign payments.Your US$5.5M has been in this bank for many years unclaimed because my boss Mr.Jacobs Ajekigbe have refused to tell you the truth on how to claim your fund this is because he has been using the interest accumulated from your fund every year to enrich himself without your knowledge.

I want to help you pull out this fund to your bank account using the easiest and the quickest method,which have not been made known to you before..By this method,you will open a domiciliary account with this Bank(First Bank ofNigeria) your fund would be lodged into this disciplinary account and your fund will be paid in directly to any Bank of your choice.After the Transfer,you will confirm the fund in your Bank account within 5hours the same day.But the laws said you most pay for the activation of the account.

The method which was introduced to you before is the Telegraphic Transfer(TT) for which confirmation was 48hrs,because of the time factor,petitions could come from various organizations stopping your payment and asking you to pay huge fee which would be difficult for you to pay so that they can benefit from the huge interest your fund generates while still in the Bank.This method is not safe for you because it is not done within the bank alone as information of the payment would be sent to the Central Control Unit(CCU)of the Federal Ministry of Finance and office of the Accountant General of the Federation.As a good Christian,I have nothing to gain by keeping your fund,

I want to assist you receive your US$5.5M before my boss resumes office.You have to follow up and work with me now,so keep this very confidential because of fraudsters and impostors who go about presenting various bank accounts in order to divert another beneficiary's fund.Confirm to me through this e-mail address,your present/valid account co-ordinates so that We do not transfer your fund to the wrong Bank Account.

Awaiting your quick response.

Yours Truly,

Mr.Larry Johnson

Anti-fraud resources: