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.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Maria Salem" <mariaselem78@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 02:17:38 +0000
Subject: waiting for your consent U.K

Compliments of the day to you, please send all replies to
allensmith1@kaixo.com




I am Mr. Allen Smith, i am an accountant with a bank here in united kingdom.
I happen to have managed a particular

account for
a russian by name engineer serge oleg, here in the United

Kingdom,
he died Intestate in iraq last year. leaving in our care a

sizeable
amount in a domiciliary United States Dollars Investment

Account. For
some reasons, this client does not have an easily

identifiable next
of Kin. I have made several enquiries to locate any of my

clients' relatives; immediate and extended, this has proved

unsuccessful, hence, I am contacting you. I need your assistance in

securing the money left behind by my client before they get declared

unserviceable by the bank. The bank has already issued a Government

Mandatory formality notice to provide the Next of Kin or have the account

confiscated and this should expire within a month.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating any of his

relatives for over a year plus and convinced that no one is coming

forth, and have
satisfied the mandatory legal requirement of

Beneficiary/next of kin
Notification, I now seek a reliable and trustworthy person,

with your
consent and perfect understanding, to present you as the

next of kin
of the deceased so that the proceeds of this account

valued at
US$21,320,000.00 (Twenty One Million, Three Hundred And

Twenty
Thousand United States Dollars), interest inclusive, can be

paid into
an account to be provided by you as the

perceived Next
of Kin, legally and otherwise.

All I require is your honest cooperation and confidence in

me; which
I know would not come easy. I guarantee that this will be

executed
under a legitimate background that will protect you from

any breach
of the law. I would advise that you give this positive

consideration
and get back to me soon. I'll be flexible and considerate in

the
percentage share that will be given to you for your

assistance. Upon
receipt of your response I'll send to you my private number

so that
you can reach me for further discussion. I expect your

urgent
response and if in the affirmative, with a confirmation of

your full
name and present location, I shall then advice you on what

we need to
do.
Best regards,
Mr. Allen smith


Anti-fraud resources: