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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: ALEX JOHNSON<cnjo11@tatanova.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 14:56:18 +0530
Subject: From Alex

DEAR FRIEND,
URGENTLY AND EXTREMELY CONFIDENTIAL.
I am an Accountant and the chairman of the tender
committee which awards contract in the department of
the petroleum Resources of Nigeria . I sent you a
letter by post office sometime ago informing you of
our plan to transfer the sum of US$20.5million (Twenty
million, Five hundred thousand US Dollars only) to
your account. I have been waiting to hear from you,but
up till now, nothing has been heard from you hence
this particular message.

In any case, I guess that you may not have received
the letter after all due to the shortcomings of our
postal system. I want you to know that this fund
originated from an Over-invoiced contract sum which
was awarded to a foreign firm in 1999. I and my three
(3)other colleagues in the tender Board purposely
inflated the actual cost of the contract to the tune
of US$20.5 Million.

However, the original contractor has fully executed
the contract, the project commissioned and the
contractor paid his actual contract worth, leaving
behind the over-invoiced sum. So, it is based on this
that we now want you / your company to come forward to
claim this sum on our behalf. We are Civil Servants,
and we are not allowed to operate foreign account
while still in office, so you are therefore to act as
one who had executed a contract worth the sum of
US$20.5million for my Department and you now want your
payment. This deal is 100% risk free.We are perfectly in charged and had
worked out modalities that would guarantee a perfect transfer of this
fund to your account. We have also mapped out 30% of the total sum for you
for your help and assistance while the remaining is for me and my colleagues.

If you are interested in the proposal, and you are a
trustworthy person who would not sit on this money if
it is transferred to your account, kindly indicate by
contacting me via my E-mail address below.
This deal must be kept absolutely confidential till we
succeed. Thank you as we look forward to your
anticipated co-operation.

NOTE=After a successful transfer, 30% for you, 60% for
us, 10% mapped out to settle expenses incurred by both
parties in the process of transfer.We will also visit
you immedaitely we conclude this transaction to
collect and invest our shares of the total sum into
any viable business you may advise us in your country.
Contact me urgently through my E-mail.
Best regards,

Alex Johnson

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