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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: "John Bankole" <bankole4john@msn.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 20:53:47 +0000
Subject: Mr.John Bankole

John Bankole,
Email Address:bankole_4john@yahoo.com.ar

Dear Friend,

I would like to begin by way of introduction; My name is Mr. John Bankole, a
native of Nigeria. I am a senior employee of Nigerian Department of Energy
and Mineral Resources. You were introduced to us in confidence through the
Nigerian Chambers of Commerce and Foreign trade division.

I am writing this letter to solicit your co-operation in order to redeem an
investment currently held under trust with the Department of Energy and
Mineral Resources of Nigeria. The said investment now valued at USD$26.426M
(Twenty six million, four hundred and twenty six thousand American dollars),
was originally purchased by one Mr. Micheal Wayne, and leased to the
Transvaal Orange Mining Corporation in 1977.Since the maturity of this
contract in September 1997,several attempts have been made without success
to
contact Mr. Micheal Wayne or any of his close relatives, in whose favour the
investment cash value can be paid.

My partner, who is the Account Director in the same Ministry and I, have
initiated the process of filing a claim for this money with the hope of
having the funds transferred to you. In order to do this, we will swear an
affidavit in the High Court of my country stating that you are a distant
cousin and next of kin to Mr.Micheal Wayne the owner of the money. After
which,we will file a claim for this money from the Department of Energy and
Mineral Resources,
indicating that you were appointed by Mr. Micheal Wayne to be the
beneficiary of these funds. When the claim is approved you as the
beneficiary will be paid the sum of USD$26.426M.

The money will be paid directly to any bank of your choice; you will have
the responsibility to ensure that my partner and I receive 70% of the money
while
you keep 25% for your assistance.The remaining 5% will be for incidental
expenses.

I want to assure you that my partner and I are in a position to make the
payment of this claim possible provided that you can give us very strong
guarantee that our share will be secured, and that you will not take
advantage of our position.

Be assured that there is absolutely nothing to worry about in the view of
this claim. It is perfectly safe with no risks involved, and it is not
subject to any inquiry, since my partner and I will be handling the claim
directly in Nigeria on your behalf.I do hope my proposal is acceptable to
you. Please
acknowledge the receipt of this letter,via my alternative email
bankole_4john@yahoo.com.ar so that I can provide you with more
clarification about the claim and how we intend to make this deal beneficial
to everyone involved,hope to hear from you soon, please do not forgetto
include your telephone number when replying this letter.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr.John Bankole
MY ALTERNATIVE EMAIL ADDRESS:bankole4john@msn.com


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