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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: "oronto douglas" <o_douglas@msn.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 10:28:44 +0000
Subject: URGENT MESSAGE PLEASE

BARRISTER ORONTO DOUGLAS & CHAMBERS
(TAX, TRUST, ESTATE $ CONVEYANCER )
25 TUNIBU AVEUNU,LAGOS Reg.# 9537821/96
LAGOS-NIGERIA.

Dear Sir / Madam,

Compliment of the day,I am Barrister ORONTO DOUGLAS ,a legal Solicitor. I am
the Personal Attorney and legal adviser to Mr.Williams , a national of
your country, who used to work with Mobil oil Company here in Nigeria. On
the 7th of April 2004, my client, his wife and their three children were
involved in a car accident along Mama Yama Express Road,all occupants of
the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives.

Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my
client's extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these
several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives over the
Internet, to locate any member of his family but to no avail, hence I
contacted you I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and
property left behind by my client before they get impounded by the bank,
Particularly the bank where the deceased had deposited the fund valued at
about TWELVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($Us12million).
The bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the
account confiscated/impounded before the next six months.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over a year
now, I seek for your consent to present you to the bank as the next o f
kin to the deceased since you have the same last names with him (My late
client).

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the
sharing ratio and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary
information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest co-operation to enable us see this
transaction through.I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Please contact me immediately to enable us discuss further.
Best Regards,
Barrister Oronto Douglas.


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