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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "FROM DR. ROBERT WILAMS" <robertwilams@yahoo.com> (may be fake)
Reply-To: rb_25_c@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 10:40:23 -0700
Subject:

DEAR,

PLEASE TREAT THIS PROPOSAL AS A TOP SECRET

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, DR ROBERT WILAMS, 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 OF 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.

THANKS

DR ROBERT WILAMS


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