joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "Prince Fayad Bolkiah" <fayadbolkiah@post.com> (may be fake)
Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 21:40:26 +0200
Subject: Assistance

Dear Sir,

I am Prince Fayad W. Bolkiah, the eldest son of Prince Jefri Bolkiah, former Finance Min! ister of Brunei, the tiny oil-rich sultanate on the Gulf Island of Borneo. I will save your time by not
amplifying my extended royal family history, which has already been disseminated by the international media during the controversial dispute that erupted between my father and his stepbrother, the sultan
of Brunei Sheik Muda Hassanal Bolkiah.

As you may know from the international media, the sultan had accused my father of financial
mismanagement and impropriety of US$14.8 billion dollars. This was as a result of the Asian financial crisis that made my father company Amedeo Development Company and government owned Brunei Investment
Company to be declared bankrupt during his tenure in office. However my father was kept under house arrest, his bank accounts and private properties including a crude oil export refinery were later confiscated by the sultanate.

Furthermore during this unfortunate period, I was
advised to evacuate my! immediate family outside the sultanate to avoid further prosecutio n from the sultan and his security operatives, but before I could do that I was placed under house arrest by the Sultan and I had no access to phone, but I have a Palm V hand-held computer from which I am sending you this mail. Some of the guards here are still loyal to me.

Before my Incasteration, I went ahead to dispatch the sum of Four hundred and twenty Million United States Dollars (US$420,000,000.00) in cash with the assistance of a foreign diplomat who now reside in Europe. The money has now been deposited as
valuables into different private security and trust company for safe keeping abroad. The money were splited and kept in the following countries in this proportion: US$50 Million is in London, US$80 Million
is in Spain, US$40 Million is in Holland, US$170 Million is in Cotonuo Republic of Benin and the balance of US$25 Million is in GERMANY and
$55Million in Canada.

Please if you know you can assist in claiming and investing it in real estate/property to guarantee the future survival of my family, contact me fast so that I'll give you contact information of the security company in Europe and other parts of the world where the funds are deposited. For your assistance i will
compensate you with 25% of the total sum and another 5% shall be set aside to defray any expenses that may rise.

Please I count on your absolute confidentiality, transparency and trust while looking forward to your prompt reply towards a swift conclusion of this business transaction through my email address as follows: fayadbolkiah@email.com

Many Thanks & May Allah's blessing remain with you.

I remain yours sincerely.

Prince Fayad .W. Bolkiah


Anti-fraud resources: