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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: "richardsmithlawfirms_ngr@web-mail.com.ar" <richardsmithlawfirms_ngr@web-mail.com.ar>
Reply-To: richardsmithlawfirms_ngr@web-mail.com.ar
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 10:03:25 -1200
Subject: %##REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE##%

Dear Friend,

I hope this meets you in good health. My name is
Richard smith Esq.
legal practitioner and Attorney to late Mr. Ziya
Bazhayev who died in the plane crash of Yak-40
jetliner on March 9, 2000. You may follow the Link
below to read about the Plane Crash my client
lost his life:
http://therussiajournal.com/index.htm?obj=2454
http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/archives3/mar00/031000/brief1.html
http://news.1chinastar.com/ll/english/61934.shtml
&
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/672849.stm

My late client was an influential wealthy
businessman, a Contractor in
my Country and a Russian big time Oil dealer and
the Principal owner of Oil Alliance Company and
he left behind a deposit of Twelve Million, Two
Hundred Thousand United States Dollar
($12,200,000.00USD) in his domiciliary bank account in a
commercial bank here in Nigeria. Which is one of the
main reasons it has been very important to locate
his next of kin.

After the death of my client his bankers
contacted me, as his Attorney
to provide his next of kin who should inherit his
fortune. The board of directors of his bank
adopted a resolution and I was mandated to
provide his next of kin for the payment of this
money or forfeit the money to the bank as an
abandoned Estate. The bankers had planned to invoke a
clause in the property Act, to confiscate the
funds after the expiration of a period given to me.

It was while i was searching for his family
records on the internet that i came across your
contact.I have searched through almost all the
genealogy site that you can think of both in the
Russia,USA and all the possible places I thought my
clients would have possibly had a family member.
Despairing and at the point of desperation, I came
across your name, while trying to locate
documentation's regarding
possible relatives of my client in his country of
origin. Convinced that you may be able to act in
locus for my late client as his next of kin, I
therefore, decided to contact you with these facts
before me because of the status quo. By virtue of
my brief and my closeness to the deceased, I am
very much aware of my client's financial standing
and the bank account he operates here in my
country.


I have reasoned very professionally and I feel it
will be legally
proper to present you as the next of kin of my
deceased client and the sole beneficiary of his
estate, so that you are be paid the funds left in
his bank account, hence I contacted you. I seek
your consent to present you as the Next of Kin; the
bank needs only the facts as presented legally.
The rest is between you and I and with my guide we
can have the money paid into your account, once
this is done we shall both share the funds. 50% to
me and 40% to you, while 10% should be for Taxes
as your Government may require, I shall assemble
all the necessary Legal Documents that will be
used to back up our claim. All I require is your
honest cooperation to enable us see this deal
through I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any Breach of law. Please get in touch with me.

Best Regards,

Richard Smith Esq.


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