joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "MS. SUSAN SMITH." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <infounitytrustbankplc@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 10:38:15 -0400
Subject: UNITY TRUST BANK PLC . ARE YOU ALIVE?

FROM THE DESKTOP OF:
MS. SUSAN SMITH.
DIRECTOR, INTERNET BANKING,
UNITY TRUST BANK PLC, LONDON-UK
Address: 23-28 Great Russell Street, Lon WC1B 3UB, United Kingdom
Customer Service Tel: +447077089352
Fax: +447024043288
 
 
 
Attention: .
 
                                            Re - CHANGE OF FUND OWNERSHIP.
 
My name Susan Smith, Director of Internet Banking, Unity Trust Bank Plc, London -UK (UTB). I am solely in - charge of all Inheritance payments. I received a letter today that your unclaimed approved payment with Unity Trust Bank Plc which has been overdue for payment should now be paid to Mr. Ronald J. Rauch of 27132 Paseo Espada Ste. A-423, San Juan Capistrano, CA. 92675 USA. Home Phone: 1-305-258-5631. This man in question instructed that the $12.5 Million USD should be paid to his account as stated below:
 
 
Bank Name: Bridgeway Federal Credit Union
Account Name: Mr. Ronald J. Rauch
Account# 155780
Routing# 221979334
Address: poughkeepsie NY, 12601
 
 
In the said letter titled change of beneficiary/ownership. Its clearly stated that you are dead and that he is your next of kin, it went further to say you signed a
deed and an agreement with Mr. Ronald J. Rauch to become your beneficiary before your untimely death.
 
But because of the elaborate global scam, I decided to contact you first for confirmation and if after seven working days, no response is received from you, it will be assumed that you are dead and as such authorization and approval will be granted on behalf of Mr. Ronald J. Rauch to claim/receive your fund.
 
But if you are well and alive then confirm this letter and reconfirm your Information to us so as to enable facilitate the transfer of your fund following our banking norm and ethics.
 
 
1. YOUR FULL NAME
2) YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS
3) DIRECT TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS
4) AGE
5) OCCUPATION
6) MARITAL STATUS
7) SEX
 
 
 
Please feel free to call for further clarifications regarding this matter:
 
Sincerely,
 
 
THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US...
 
KINDEST REGARDS,
MS. SUSAN SMITH.
 
DIRECTOR, INTERNET BANKING,
UNITY TRUST BANK PLC, LONDON-UK
Address: 23-28 Great Russell Street, Lon WC1B 3UB, United Kingdom
Customer Service Tel: +447077089352
Fax: +447024043288

Anti-fraud resources: