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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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Please note about this email:

Fraud email example:

From: "ZALOTTO PROGRAME" <zalottoprograme@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:33:53 +0100
Subject: From, George Negotha

FROM: Mr. George Negotha
ADDRESS: Brooklyn Square 0075, Pretoria, South Africa.
PHONE: +27-73-2400232.
EMAIL:georgenegotha@yahoo.com
 
Dear Sir/Madam,
I know this message may come to your as a surprise since we do not know each other before. For the purpose of introductions, I am Mr. George Negotha, The South Africa National Lottery Payments Agent.
On the 24th April 2004, Late MR. EDWARD CROSS won our jackpot lottery draw held in sandton Mall. He was declared as the jackpot winner and the beneficiary of 6.5M (South African Rands) equivalent to US$1,090, 000.00 (One Million Ninety Hundred Thousand US Dollars). During the 2004 annually company auditing. It is confirmed that no person(s) has made a claim of the payment. In this regard, I took  much time to scrutinize our payment records in the files and systems. However, I discovered that Late Mr. Edward Cross, is a foreigner and a waiter in a hotel. He died the following day on the 30th April 2004 without a next of kin. The winning has no other beneficiary and  my painstaking investigations proved that his employers do not know anything about this jackpot winning payment.
 
Therefore, I am contacting you as a foreigner because the real beneficiary of the lottery winning claim is a foreigner and I have made a very concrete /solid arrangements to approve the payment to any reliable or trusted foreign bank account.  I need your full cooperation to make this transaction successful, because the management has declared to approve the payment to any foreigner who has the correct winning information ( Ticket Number, Batch Number, Serial Number and etc) which I will provide to you later.
If you are capable and interested to handle such amount in strict confidence and according to my instructions and advise for our mutual sharing. With my position as the payment agent, I will use my power and influence to effect legal approvals for onward release of the fund to your
bank account.
 
I will apply for my annual leave to visit you for the sharing and possible business investments.
Our sharing terms are 50/50 percentage. To commence the processing of the payment in your name. Kindly contact me with the above private telephone contact information for the next step to follows.
 
Thank you for your cooperation in advance.
Sincerely Yours,
Mr. George Negotha (Payment Agent)

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