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: "Mr. Mac Williams." <mr.mcwilliams1950@gmail.com>
Reply-To: wmac245@yahoo.fr
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 03:49:20 -0800
Subject: TO ALAN PLEASE RESPOND

FROM: MR. MAC WILLIAMS
THE BRANCH MANAGER,
BANQUE INTERNATIONALE DE L'AFRIQUE,
KARA BRANCH, LOME-REPUBLIC OF TOGO .

DEAR ALAN ,

GREETINGS AND PLEASE PARDON ME FOR NOT KNOWING YOUR MINDSET BEFORE
CONTACTING YOU AND IT IS VERY CONFIDENTIAL

I AM MR. MAC WILLIAMS, THE BRANCH MANAGER, BANQUE INTERNATIONALE DE
L'AFRIQUE,KARA BRANCH,LOME-REPUBLIC OF TOGO.WE HAD A FOREIGN CLIENT;
MRS.STELLA ALAN , A NATIONAL OF YOUR COUNTRY,AND A MEMBER OF YOUR
FAMILY SINCE SHE BEARS THE SAME FAMILY NAME WITH YOU. ON THE 25TH FEB
2010, MY CLIENT AND HER ONLY SON WERE INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCIDENT ALONG
KANESHI EXPRESS ROAD HERE IN REPUBLIC OF TOGO.UNFORTUNATELY THEY LOST
THEIR LIVES IN THE CAR CRASH.

SINCE THEN THE BANK HAD MADE SEVERAL INQUIRIES TO YOUR EMBASSY HERE TO
LOCATE ANY OF OUR CLIENTS EXTENDED RELATIVES,THIS HAS ALSO PROVED
UNSUCCESSFUL.THIS OUR CLIENT, HAS AN ACCOUNT WITH THIS BRANCH OF OUR
BANK, TOTALLING US$6.5MILLION, WHICH SHE INHERITED FROM HER LATE
HUSBAND WHO WAS AN INDUSTRIALIST BEFORE HE DIED.AND, SINCE THAT
YEARAFTER HER DEATH, THE BANK HAS NOT HAD ANYONE THAT COMES FOR THE
CLAIM OF THIS FUND AS EITHER HER RELATION OR AS A FRIEND.A SITUATION I
HAVE MONITORED CLOSELY WITH MY POSITION HERE AS THE MANAGER OF THIS
BRANCH OF OUR BANK AND L HAVE FINALLY REMOVED HER FILE TO MY PRIVATE
VAULT. NOW THIS IS WHAT L ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO DO ;

SINCE YOU BEAR THE SAME FAMILY NAME WITH HER AND OF THE SAME
NATIONALITY,I HAVE REASONED VERY PROFESSIONALLY AND I FEEL IT WILL BE
LEGALLY PROPER TO PRESENT YOU AS HER NEXT OF KIN SO AS TO CLAIM OUT
THIS FUND,BEFORE IT IS TRANSFERRED TO THE BANK'S TREASURY AT THE END
OF THIS FINANCIAL YEAR WHERE OTHER PEOPLE MAY AS WELL CLAIM ITDIRECTLY
WITHOUT GOING TO THIS LENGTH.

I AM QUITE AWARE OF THE PROCEDURES THIS WILL TAKE AND I WILL ADVICE
YOU APPROPRIATELY ON THE WAY FORWARD AND GUIDE YOU ON HOW TO APPLY TO
OUR BANK TO MAKE THE CLAIM FOR THE FUND AND ITS BANK-TO-BANK TRANSFER
TO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT,WHERE YOU CONSIDER SAFE FOR IT.

THANK YOU IN ANTICIPATION OF YOUR URGENT RESPONSE AND I WILL FURNISH
YOU WITH THE FULL DETAILS AND PLEASE ALSO INCLUDE YOUR DIRECT PHONE
NUMBERS. I INTEND TO GIVE YOU 40% WHILE I TAKE 60% AND I HOPE YOU WILL
BE A VERY HONEST AND RELIABLE PERSON?

WHAT I WANT FROM YOU IS FOR YOU TO ACT AS THE DECEASED NEXT OF
KIN.ANDIN REGARDS TO THAT FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE COMMUNICATED TO
YOU AS SOON AS I RECEIVE YOUR POSITIVE RESPONSE VIA,E-MAIL OR
TELEPHONE. THE INFORMATION SHOULD THEREFORE BE SENT IN THE MANNER
STATED BELOW SO AS TO ENSURE THAT NO MISTAKE IS MADE:

YOUR FULL NAME: ………………………..
YOUR ADDRESS ……………………….
DATE OF BIRTH (DAY/MONTH/YEAR): ………………………..
DIRECT TELEPHONE / MOBILE NUMBER: ……………………
OCCUPATION-------------------------

ANTICIPATING YOUR URGENT RESPONSE

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MR. MAC WILLIAMS .

Anti-fraud resources: