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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: William Njoku <mrwilliamnjoku1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrwilliamnjoku@ymail.com
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 21:42:54 +0000
Subject: Regarding to Late Mr. J. R.Ravensbergen

Regarding to Late Mr. J. R.Ravensbergen

Hello Friend

With all due respect, my name is Mr. William Njoku. I am 52yrs old, I
am the Director In charge of Wire Transfer through Key Tested Telex
(K.T.T), and wire transfer bank to bank (swift system) of NATIONAL
BANK FOR INDUSTRIES, LOME TOGO. My department is in charge of all the
Foreign Remittance and operational software that is to be undertaken
by our bank. On a routine inspection I discovered a dormant
domiciliary account with a BAL. of US$4.5 (Four Million, Five Hundred
Thousand dollars) belonging to late Mr. J.R.Ravensbergen, from your country.

On further discreet investigation, I also discovered that the account
holder and his family all lost their lives in fatal car accident along
Ecowas Highway in Lome Togo in 2009.Since I have been unsuccessful in
locating the relatives for some time now I seek your consent to
present you as the next of kin of the deceased, so that the proceeds
of this account valued at US$4,500,000.00 dollars can be paid to you
and then you and I can share the money. I have all the necessary legal
information / Documents that can be used to back up any claim we may
make. And these I must do to make sure that this fund is not wasted or
end up in the wrong hands.

All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this
transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law. I am waiting your urgent reply. Please you can reach me through
my private email address as indicated. And also be in mind that this
transaction should be kept secret and confidential.

Thanks for understanding, waiting to hear from you urgently for more updates.

--
William Njoku
+228-0435544

Anti-fraud resources: