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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: susanshabangu24@tiscali.ch
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:06:25 +0100
Subject: Respond Asap


From desk of: Mrs. Susan Shabangu
16 MCKELELE Street.
CAPE TOWN. South Africa.

Dear Sir,

With warm heart I offer my friendship, and greetings, and I hope this mail
meets you in good health.

However strange or surprising this contact might seem to you as we have
not met personally or had any
dealings in the past, I humbly ask that you take due consideration of its
importance and the immense
benefit it will be to you and I.

After careful consideration with my children, we resolved to contact you
for your most needed assistance in this manner. I duly apologize for infringing
on your privacy if this contact is not acceptable to you, as I make this
proposal to you as a person of integrity. I got your contacts through my
personal research and out of desperation decided to
reach you through this medium.

First and foremost I wish to introduce myself properly to you. My name is
Mrs. Susan Shabangu, mother of three and a civil servan working for the
Republic of South Africa for seven years I will now give you a general overview
of the situation. When I was sworn in as Deputy Minister of Minerals and
Energy in 1996, with my influence, my husband Mr. Simon Shabangu, a very
successful businessman was awarded several contracts in my ministry and
had direct dealings with foreign investors in this field.

Due to my political status, I was not involved in my husbands business which
was very vast and successful.
My beloved husband died whilst on an official trip to the far East last
year.

When my husband died, I was contacted as next of kin by a private security
firm in Europe to come forth with the Certificate of Deposit and claim a
safety deposit my husband has in their Vault in his name.

I went through his library collection and to my astonishment I discovered
a Certificate of Deposit for the safety deposit with this private security
firm, and other documents relating to the safety deposit.

The safety deposit which is a trunk contains the sum of $20,000,000 which
was generated from cash payments
from his business associates in the diamond trade from Antwerp, Belgium.
Though I knew my late husband was in the diamond business, I did not have
the knowledge that he moved funds in cash. This has came as a shock to me
and my children, and we have decided to have this fund invested immediately
in commercial and residential properties abroad as well as profitable ventures,
as any member of my family cannot hold such a huge amount in our name due
to my political status, hence we sincerely propose to you to render us your
most needed assistance in this regard.

If you agree to render us your assistance, your role in this project will
be to act on my behalf as a trustee to receive the safety deposit containing
the funds from the Security firm. Though I believe this transaction should
be based on mutual benefit and interest.

For your reliable assistance, we are offering you 20% of the funds. I thank
you in advance as we anticipate
your assistance in enabling us achieve this goal. On hearing from you, I
will forward your contact to our
Persoanl Assistant who will be representing us, and also work with you to
actualise this transaction.

He will be working with you for a mutual conclusion of the process and I
look forward to a long lasting business relationship with you. As you may
understand, due to my sensitive position in the present government, it is
not safe to communicate with me via phone or fax. This is why I have communicated
with you with my private email address, and I like us to keep this way,
for the safety of this transaction. Whether or not you are interested in
assisting us please let
us know. This will enable us make alternative plans, in the event of non-interest
on your part.

Please respond via this private e-mail address: susan_shabangu@freesurf.ch


With warm regards,

Mrs. S. Shabangu.

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