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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "MR COLINS BROWN" <colins.brown@handbag.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: colins_100brown@yahoo.co.in
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 22:10:53 -0700
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PLAN

(URGENT BUSINESS PLAN)


ATTENTION

DEAR PARTNER,

IN ORDER TO TRANSFER OUT ( FIFTEEN-MILLION POUNDS
STERLINGS) FROM OUR BANK HERE IN LONDON. I HAVE THE
COURAGE TO LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND HONEST PERSON WHO
WILL BE CAPABLE FOR THIS IMPORTANT TRANSACTION,
BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL NEVER LET ME DOWN EITHER NOW OR IN
FUTURE.

I AM MR COLINS BROWN THE AUDITOR AND COMPUTING STAFF
OF A BANK HERE IN SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDOM. THERE IS AN
ACCOUNT OPENED IN THIS BANK IN 1995 AND SINCE 2001
NOBODY HAS OPERATED ON THIS
ACCOUNT AGAIN, AFTER GOING THROUGH SOME OLD FILES IN
THE RECORDS, I DISCOVERED THAT IF I DO NOT REMITT
THIS MONEY OUT URGENTELY, IT WILL BE FORFEITED FOR
NOTHING.

HOW THE MONEY CAME ABOUT:

THE OWNER OF THIS ACCOUNT IS MR JOHN HUGHES FOREIGNER
FROM AND THE MANAGER OF PETROL
CHEMICAL SERVICE HERE IN LONDON, A CHEMICAL ENGINEER
BY PROFFESSION AND HE DIED SINCE
1995.AND THEN,SINCE 2001, NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THIS
ACCOUNT OR ANYTHING CONCERNING IT, THE
ACCOUNT HAS NO OTHER BENEFICIARY AND MY INVESTIGATION
PROVED TO ME AS WELL THAT HIS COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW
ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT AND THE AMOUNT INVOLVED IS
(15,000,000.00) POUNDS STERLINGS

I WANT TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY INTO A SAFE FOREIGN
ACCOUNT ABROAD BUT I DON'T KNOW ANY
FOREIGNER, I AM ONLY CONTACTING YOU AS A FOREIGNER
BECAUSE THIS MONEY CAN NOT BE APPROVED TO ANY LOCAL
BANK HERE IN SCOTLAND,
BUT CAN ONLY BE APPROVED TO ANY FOREIGN ACCOUNT
BECAUSE THE MONEY IS POUNDS STERLINGS AND THE FORMER
OWNER OF THE ACCOUNT IS JOHN HUGHES AND HE WAS A FOREIGNER
TOO.

I KNOW THAT THIS MESSAGE WILL COME TO YOU AS A
SURPRISE AS WE DON'T KNOW OUR SELF BEFORE,
BUT BE SURE THAT IT IS REAL AND A GENUINE BUSINESS.I
BELIEVE IN GOD THAT YOU WILL NEVER LET ME DOWN IN
THIS INVESTMENT.

WHEN THE TRANSFER IS APPROVED AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE IS
ALOCATED OVERSEAS,THROUGH THE OFFSHORE
PAYING DELEGATE FOR FINAL CLEARANCE AND SIGNING OF
THE PAYMENT REALEASE FORM BY THE BENEFICIARY, I
WANT US TO SEE AT THE OVERSEA PAYING CLEARANCE OFFICE
FACE TO FACE OR SIGNING OF THE ORIGINAL BINDDING
AGREEMENT TO BIND US TOGETHER SO THAT,WE CAN RECEIVE
THIS MONEY INTO A FOREIGN ACCOUNT OR ANY ACCOUNT OF
YOUR CHOICE WHERE THE FUND WILL BE REMITTED.

I AM CONTACTING YOU BECAUSE OF THE NEED TO INVOLVE A
FOREIGNER WITH A FOREIGN ACCOUNT AS THE
REAL BENEFICIARY. I NEED YOUR CO-OPERATION TO MAKE
THIS WORK FINE, BECAUSE THE MANAGEMENT IS READY
TO APPROVE THIS PAYMENT TO ANY FOREIGNER WHO HAS THE
CORRECT INFORMATION TO THIS ACCOUNT,WHICH I WILL
GIVE TO YOU WHEN SURE OF YOUR CAPABILITY TO HANDLE
SUCH AMOUNT IN STRICT CONFIDENCE AND TRUST.

ACCORDING TO MY INSTRUCTIONS AND MY ADVICE FOR OUR
MUTUAL BENEFIT BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO MAKE
ANY MISTAKE,I NEED YOUR STRONG ASSURANCE AND TRUST.I
SHALL DESTROY ALL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THIS
TRANSACTIONS IMMEDIATELY WE RECEIVED THIS MONEY
LEAVING NO TRACE TO ANY PLACE.

I WILL USE MY POSITION AND INFLUENCE ON OTHER STAFFS
TO EFFECT THE LEGAL APPROVALS AND ONWARD
TRANSFER OF THIS MONEY TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH
APPROPRIATE CLEARANCE FROM FOREIGN PAYMENT
DEPARTMENT. WITH
ASSURANCE THAT THIS MONEY WILL BE INTACT PENDING MY
PHYSICAL ARRIVAL TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR THE SHARING AND
OTHER INVESTMENT.HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU IMMEDIATELY.

PLEASE REPLY THROUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL CONTACT<colins_brown100@post.cz>

THANKS

MR COLIINS BROWN





Anti-fraud resources: