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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: Dr Chris Smith <drcsmith72@googlemail.com>
Reply-To: drcsmith@37.com
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:55:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: From: Dr Chris Smith


Dearest Friend.
 
My Name is Dr Chris Smith From Harlsden, North West London , here in England.
I work for Natwest Bank  London. I am writing following an opportunity in my
office that will be of an imense benefit to both of us.
 
In my department I discovered an abandoned sum of $12.5 million USA Dollars
(Twelve million five hundred thousand Usa Dollars) in an account that belongs
to one of our foreign customers Late Mr. Morris Thompson an American 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 about the crash on visiting this site. 
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/
 
The choice of contacting you is aroused from the geographical nature of where
you live, particularly due to the sensivity of the transaction and the
confidentiality herein.
 
I personally has been un-successful in locating the relatives for 2 years now,
therefore I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin / Beneficiary
so that the proceeds of this account valued at 12.5Million Dollars can be paid
to you instead of letting the bank confiscate the money since nobody has shown
up for the claim or applied in writing for 10yrs since the crash happened.
This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 60% to me and 40% to you.
All I require now is your honest Co-operation, Confidentiality and Trust to enable
us see this transaction through. I guarantee you that this will be executed under
a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.
 
Your urgent response will be highly anticipated and appreciated and please ensure
you keep this business very confidential.
 
Best regards,
 
Dr Smith.

Anti-fraud resources: