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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: "FINANCIAL SERVICE AUTHORITY" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <payments@debtmanagement-ng.org>
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2011 22:55:43 +0100
Subject: Ref : FID/0012 / RM104 / 2011

UNCLAIMED MONEY AND ABANDONED PROPERTY
BRITISH DEPT. OF TRADE & INDUSTRY
KINGSGATE HOUSE 70 VICTORIA STREET,
LONDON, SW1E 6SW, UNITED KINGDOM.
 
Attn :
 
Following series of complains from Citizens of the United States as well as Citizens of Other Countries in the world over the Discrepancies and fraudulent
ways in which fund transfers are handled by Banks in Africa, European and Asia which has made it impossible for a lot of People to claim their funds due to frauds and illegal activities.
 
The decision reached recently by the United States Department of The Treasury and The British Dept. of Trade & Industry Unclaimed assets Unit, considering the high rate of Money Laundering which has led into investigations of numerous International Funds Payments and Transfers. We have Finally discover that some of the deposited funds abandoned in United Kingdom and some European Banks are genuine and originated from the Right Source, Such  as Inheritance Claim/Contractual / Unclaimed Lottery Winning / Payment from Supply and Marketing of foreign Products into the United Kingdom.
 
I was personally mandated to handle this matter to ensure that all funds of Citizens and others which are being trapped in Banks are urgently retrieved
and paid to the actual Beneficiary legally . We retrieved all Files of illegal transactions and we will be working under a legitimate arrangement to ensure that you follow the normal process to receive your funds.
 
Based on the finding in this investigation Department, we wish to inform you that your payment is being process and it will be released to you as soon as you respond to this letter. Please re-confirm to me if this is inline with what you have in your records and also re-confirm to me the followings.
 
Name:
Tel /Fax:
Amount to be claimed:
 
Be informed that the above information will only enable us to make due confirmation.  We shall ensure that normal process is followed to ensure that your fund gets to you without delay. More details will be provided to you after receiving the requested information above.
 
Thanks,
Mark Debon.

Anti-fraud resources: