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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. Zain Ahmad" <zainahmad@live.com.my>
Date: Sat, 22 May 2010 02:03:55 +0800
Subject: ATTENTION

ZAIN AHMAD & ASSOCIATES
20TH MAY 2010

Good day my dear friend,

This is a law firm and I am an attorney at law under this firm. My interest in you lies in the fact that you share
the same last name with one of my deceased client, I therefore seek your consent to present you as the heir/heiress
or the beneficiary of my late client's estate, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Then we can
share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon percentage. This office as legal representatives of the deceased was
issued 6 months ago with a notice to contact heir/heiress, or the account will be confiscated. I advertised this issue
but no one has turned up for this period prompting me to write this letter to you as a last resort to avoid the money from
being taken by the state.

Based on your last name I am contacting you to assist in distributing the money and other assets left behind by my client
of which the other assets will be revealed at a later date once this money is successfully transfer. The transfer has to be
done before everything is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this deposit valued at US8.7 million
dollars is lodged. Note that it is not compulsory that the heir must be a blood relation to the deceased, and no DNA TEST
will be conducted .An heir could be anybody, Friends, Church, School or Organization etc. If you agree to work with me and
we keep this matter confidential then kindly send your details so that we begin the process and I let you in on more details.

Kind Sincerely
ZAIN AHMAD (ESQ)
MALAYSIA

Anti-fraud resources: