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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: "Mr. Charles Morgan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <charles.morgan2012@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:20:38 -0800
Subject: KINDLY REPLY

Dear friend,
My name is Mr. Charles Morgan from United Kingdom. I am a legal practitioner in London Also Real Estate Management. I saw your contact and profile I decided that you could co-operate with me in this proposition.
I have a client who was deceased in November, 2010, in Isles of Man, United Kingdom. I am contacting you because you have the same surname as my deceased client and I felt that you could help me in the distribution of  funding that were left in my deceased client's safe deposit. This safe deposit is to be declared UN-serviceable by the security and financial firm as there have been no indicated next of kin or next of beneficiary of the deposit. The total amount of cash in the safe deposit of my deceased client is $12,200,000 (Twelve Million, Two Hundred Thousand US Dollars). He confided this in me when he was alive.
The security and finance firm has issued to me a notification to contact the next of kin of my deceased client to either make claim as beneficiary of the safe deposit, or to re-activate the period of deposit with a monthly surcharge of 6% to be deducted as an Escrow safe keeping fee of the deposit. My proposition to you is to seek your consent, and to present your kind self as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my deceased client, since you have the same last name with him. This means that the proceeds of his safe deposit would be paid to you as his next of kin or the legitimate beneficiary.
This would be done under a legitimate arrangement that would protect you from any breach of the law. All the legal documents to back up your claim as my client's next-of-kin would be provided by me. The most important thing I would need is your honest cooperation to this proposition. When we have the fund by our self, I propose a sharing percentage of 60% to me and 40% to your kind self. If this business proposition offends your moral and ethic values, do accept my sincere apology.
Finally, if you are interested in this offer, kindly indicate by sending the following information to me for immediate process towards the claim of the funds in your favor as the next of kin. The information I want from you are: (1) Your full name. (2) Your full address. (3) Your age & occupation. (4) Your private telephone and fax numbers. I hope to hear from you.
Best regards,
Mr. Charles Morgan.

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