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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: "Aitua Ben" <nina_lamine@yahoo.fr> (may be fake)
Reply-To: aitual_5_ben@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 5 May 2005 14:41:15 +0200
Subject: PLS THIS MESSAGE IS NOT PAMS

FROM: Mr. Aitual Ben
Rue L195, Zone 4, Abidjan
Ivory Coast.
TEL: +22507536217
US$16,800,000.00 (SIXTEEN MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) FOR INVESTMENT.

Dearest One,

With the hope that you are okay and doing fine, l am contacting you for business transaction. This proposal could be strange but please give it some attention. I got your contact details on the internet.

My name is Aitual Ben I live in Ivory Coast in West Africa. I have inherited the sum of USD$16,800,000.00 (Sixteen Million, Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from my late parents. But l am faced with a problem. It is in respect of this problem that l am contacting you.
On the banks documents for the next of kin, my late father appended a clause stating that: I the next of kin, must attain the age of 35 years, before taking full control of the bank account; But, in the event of war or natural disasters in Ivory Coast, the bank should honour a transfer request from me which must be for the safety of the funds; And in this case, I must have an investment manager, my investment manager must not be an African; my investment manager must be a customer of the bank with a good financial record; and the money should not be transferred to any African country.

I am only 21years old now, but Ivory Coast is not a safe country at this time because of the war. So I want the bank to transfer my money out of Ivory Coast to a safe country, but the bank is insisting that l fulfil the conditions put down by my late father. I know the bank is only being businesslike, because there is no bank in the world that would encourage a customer to close his or her bank account. This is actually the reason why l am writing you. I know you are not a customer of the bank and you do not have an account with the bank, but all that can be arranged. So please I would like you to become my investment manager, because having an investment manager is the condition the bank insist l have to meet before they would agree to transfer my money. When you become my investment manager, l would instruct the bank to transfer my money to your country, so that you can help me invest the money wisely.
Please I am expecting your response. If you wish to speak with me, I can be reached at this phone number: +22507536217 I am willing to give you 10% of the total money for your assistance.

My best regards,
Aitual Ben.


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