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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.JOHN BREAKTHROUGH" <jack.bre@aol.co.uk>
Reply-To: solicitorjohn@excite.com
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 08:16:34 +0100
Subject: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=A39.7?= MILLION INHERITANCE PAYMENT/CAN WE WORK
TOGETHER?


- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -

>From The Desk Of John Breakthrough
London United Kingdom
Email:
solicitorjohn@excite.com
Dear Friend
I have picked up the trust and courage to write you this letter with divine confidence that you are a reliable and honest person who will be capable for this important and confidential transaction which I have for you, believing also that you will never let me down either now or in the future. I was in Pakistan on a seminar and I got your information from a trade consultant here in Pakistan, though I did not disclose the purpose of my seeking for a foreign partner to him.
Unfortunately, I had to leave Pakistan due to urgent appointment back home; this was the reason why I decided to write you this letter immediately I arrived home to my country. My name is Mr. John Breakthrough a Solicitor at Law and the personal Attorney/Sole Executor to the late Mr. Randolph Marriott, hereinafter referred to as my client; an industrialist, who worked as an Oil and Gas Merchant in my country and passed away. There is an account opened in one of the banks in the United Kingdom by my client in 2010 and no family member knows about this account or anything concerning it.
In 2013, Mr. Randolph Marriott summoned me to his office to commence his WILL process, that was when his health condition became worse. He eventually died few months ago, leaving the WILL uncompleted. The family does not know about his personal deposit of £9.7 Million (Nine Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) as it is not listed on the WILL, and all the family focus, is in his Oil/Gas business and other banks where he made some deposit.
I want to present you as his trustee/business partner who according to him, should for further inherit/investment the sum of £9.7 Million (Nine Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) which he secretly deposited in one of the banks in the United Kingdom so that both of us can share the fund once transferred into your account. I want us to do this before presenting the WILL to his family. You shall be entitled to 40% of the total sum, while I will take 50% while 10% is for expenses. All necessary precautions have been taken to ensure 100% risk free situation on the side of both parties.
I will secure the vital documents that will make you the beneficiary of the fund to enable us claim it from the bank where the fund is deposited. The WILL is with me and no member of his family has not seen the WILL yet and the bank where the fund is deposited is not known to them.
The question is, can we work together?
Kindly get back to me via my Email: (
solicitorjohn@excite.com
) for further discussion
on this if you are interested.
Respectfully Yours,
John Breakthrough

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