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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: ariwa ariwa <ariwa30b@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 13:16:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: URGENT REPLY NEEDED


DEAR FRIEND,

I AM BARRISTER ARIWA., A LEGAL LUMINARY BASED IN LAGOS-NIGERIA AND BY VIRTUE OF MY PROFESSION AND HARDWORK I MADE FAME AND BECOME ONE OF THE WELL KNOWN LAWYER AMONG MY PEERS.THIS LETTER MIGHT COME AS A SURPRISE TO YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MEET FORMALLY BUT BY ALL INTENT I HAVE NO OPTION BUT TO WRITE YOU.

I HAVE CLIENTS AMONG THE BIG MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES BASED HERE IN MY COUNTRY BUT PRESENTLY I AM IN A DILEMA.

I HAVE A CLIENT BY THE NAME MR BORIS ELKHOURY A LEBANESE CITIZEN DOING BUSINESS HERE IN NIGERIA AND BEING HIS LAWYER I HAVE ACCESS TO MOST OF HIS
BUSINESSES/CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS . MR .ELKHOURY DIED IN A GHASTLY MOTOR ACCEDIENT 1 YEAR AND 8 MONTHS AGO. PRECISELY , 6 MONTHS AGO HIS BANKER'S CALLED IN MY OFFICE AND I WAS DETAILED BY THE BANK ABOUT THE DEPOSIT HE HELD WITH THE BANK AND IN HIS ACCOUNT BALANCE WITH THE BANK CONTAINS THE SUM OF USD$10MILLION.AFTER MY MEETING WITH HIS BANKER'S WHOM I AM WELL -KNOWN TO AS HIS LAWYER THEY INFORMED ME THAT I SHOULD CONTACT MR .
BORIS ELKHOURY NEXT OF KINS TO COME AND COLLECT THE DECEASED DEPOSIT BEEN HIS ACCOUNT BALANCE WITH THE BANK.TO MY GREATEST WORRY ALL EFFORTS I HAVE MADE TO REACH ANY OF HIS RELATIVES HAS PROVEN ABORTIVE AND FOR THIS PAST 6 MONTHS I HAVE PERSONALLY TRAVELLED MYSELF TO BEIRUT ,LEBANON TO LOCATE THEM BUT TO NO AVAIL. FOR THE PAST THREE WEEKS I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING A LOTS OF PRESSURE FROM THE BANK AND THEY HAVE NOTIFIED ME THAT IF THE LATE MR. ELKHOURY'S NEXT OF KIN FAILS TO COME FOR THE DEPOSIT THAT THE BANK WILL USE THE BANKING LEGISLATION TO CONFISICATE THE DEPOSIT AND TRANSFER IT TO THE STATES ACCOUNT AND THIS SIMPLE MEANS THAT THE MONEY WILL BE PAID INTO THE BANKS TREASURY AND AUTHOMATICALLY IT BECOMES THE GOVERNMENT MONEY BECAUSE IT HAS NO CLAIMANT AND IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT I AM CONTACTING YOU, BECAUSE WHOEVER I PRESENT TO THE BANK AS LATE MR. EL KHOURY NEXT OF KIN IS NOT QUESTIONABLE WITH THE LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN!
MY
POSSESSION.WE STAND TO MAKE A LUCRATIVE PROFIT IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ASSISTING ME TO ACHIEVE THIS OBJECTIVE BY PROVIDING YOUR ACCOUNT FOR THE TRANSFER OF THIS MONEY AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO LATE MR. ELKHOURY . I WISH TO STATE THAT THIS IS 100% RISK FREE AND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED AND CAPABLE OF WORKING WITH ME TO REALISE THIS OBJECTIVE I AM WILLING TO GIVE OUT 40% OF THE US$10,000,000.00(TEN MILLION U.S.DOLLARS ONLY TO YOU WHILE I TAKE 60% AND DO CONTACT ME VIA THE ABOVE E-MAIL ADDRESS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTION.REGARDS AND GOD BLESS WHILE I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.

YOUR'S FAITHFULLY
BARRISTER ARIWA JONAH.


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