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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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Fraud email example:

From: "kim jones" <kim_10jones@tiscali.co.uk>
Reply-To: kim10_jones@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2004 11:47:06 +0100
Subject: hi

Sir/Madam

I am Kim Jones( Female) a Liberian by Birth. I am
the Personal Assistant to late Mr Gerald Smith a
foreigner (American), who was a contractor to African
Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria. On the 31st
October, 1999,Mr Gerald Smith and his wife Barbara
were involved in a Plane crash on Egypt Air Flight 990
in one of their numerous trips. Since the news was well
announced on CNN you may view the link below for your
record;

http://www.cnn.com/US/9911/02/egyptair990.list/index.html

Unfortunately they both lost their lives in the plane
crash. Since then I have made several enquiries to the
American Embassy here and the home address he filled
in his file to locate any of his extended relatives
are not valid. Since I missed his funeral ceremony in Arizona
and I have never been to the U.S everything has proved
unsuccessful.
After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to use the
Internet to locate any member of his family, but to no
avail, hence I contacted you. I contacted you to
assist in repartrating the money and property left
behind by Mr Gerald Smith before they get confiscated
or declared unserviceable by the Bank where this huge
money is deposited. Particularly, the FINANCE HOUSE
where the deceased had an account valued at about
US$21M (twenty one million dollars). Consequently,the bank
issued me a notice to provide the next-of- kin which
was his wife or have the account confiscated according
to the law. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating
the relatives for over 3 years now, I seek your consent
to present you as the next-of-kin of the deceased
since you are also a foreigner so that the proceeds of
this account valued at US$21M can be paid to you and I.

We shall share the money thus: 70% to me and 25% to
you, while 5% will be used to re-imburse any expenses
that might be incurred on both ends and to service the
tax that might be incurred in your country. I have all
the necessary legal documents that will be adjusted to
favour you and to back up any claim we may make. All I
require is your honest cooperation to enable us see
this deal through. I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will
protect you from any breach of the law. Please contact
me on my direct number Tel/Fax + 234-1-759-9558.

Yours Sincerely,
Kim Jones

N.B. Please indicate your telephone and fax numbers for easy communication


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