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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: "Mr. Felix Lawrence." <info@FelixLawrence.com>
Reply-To: shanga@i12.com
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 16:06:54 +0100 (BST)
Subject: With Due Respect,

With Due Respect,

I am Mr. Felix Lawrence, one of the Staff of Hsbc Bank London. On the
2nd of January 2005, one of my customer died in the Tsunami Disaster
with his wife and only child while on Vacation at Phuket Island in
Thailand. Since Then I have made several enquiries to locate any of my
customer's extended relatives and until date have not succeeded.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money left behind
by my client before it gets confiscated by our bank or declared
Unserviceable by our bank where this deposit is lodged.

Now, the bank Directors has called a board meeting regarding these
Funds. So my main motive right now is to share this great opportunity
with you by presenting you as the Next of Kin to the Deceased since
all his Banking details are with me as his personal Account Officer.
And the Deceased Account valued at US$10,000.000.00 (Ten Million
United States Dollars).

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the biological relatives of
my late client, I hereby seek your consent to present you to the bank
as next-of-kin of the deceased since you are a foreigner, so that the
proceeds of this account valued US$10,000.000.00 can be transferred to
you as inheritance and there after, you and I can share the money; 50%
to me and 45% to you, while 5% will be set aside to offset any
expenses that will be incurred by both parties, i.e. documentation,
bank charges, and e.t.c.

I have the original copy of Certificate of Deposit of the funds, which
will be used to substantiate our inheritance claims. All I Require is
your consent and honest co-operation to enable us see the deal
through.

Furthermore, I guarantee that the transaction will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law.

Please contact me if you are interested immediately.

Best regards,
Mr. Felix Lawrence.

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