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: "TIMOTHY SMITH" <tmsmithchambers@msn.com>
Reply-To: timothysmithchambers@netbg.com
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2005 16:09:55 +0000
Subject: Dear Friend

27/10/2005
BARRISTER;Timothy Smith
DIRECTOR, INFORMATIONS PROTOCOL
NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLUEM COMPANY
KM5, GARKI WAY, ABUJA,NIGERIA.


Dear Beloved Friend,

I am Barr;Timothy Smith, a legal practitioner, I am the personal
attorney to
Mr David Via ,a nationale of your country, who used to work with
Chevron
Nigeria limited,here in Nigeria. On the 27th of January 2002, my
client,his
wife and their three children were involved in Ikeja bomb blast here in
my
country. My client and his family unfortunately lost there lives.

PLEASE VIEW THESE WEBSITES BELOW TO CONFIRM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2718295.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2698081.stm

Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any
of my
clients extended relatives,this has also proved unsuccessful. After
these
several unsuccessful attempts, I decided and do some research in the
internet, to locate any member of his family.

That is why I contacted you,and the reason why i contacted you is to
assist
me in repatriating the money and property left behind by my client
before
they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where these
huge
deposits were lodged where my client deposited $I7.4 MILLION DOLLARS.

The Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next ofkin or have the
Account confiscated within the next ten official working days. Since I
have
been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2 Years now I seek
your
consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased, so that the
proceeds of this account valued at $I7.4 MILLION DOLLARS can be
transferred
to your account there in your country,then you and me can share the
money. I
have all necessary legal documents that back up the claim we may make.

All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this deal
through. guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate
arrangement
that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please indicate your
readiness to assist me,so that all the informations about this funds
will be
passed to you immediately.

You should send to me your full names, your private telephone
numbers,fax
number date of birth emlpoyment status, for easy communications.And
also
assure me of your trust and remember that the trust in business is
confidentiality.So let it be only between me and you.If you give me
your
full coperation and this transaction is properly executed,I am prepared
to
give you 30% of the total sum for your kind assistance.60% will be for
me
and 10% percent will be for any expences we may incure along in
thistransaction.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Best Regards,
Barr;Timothy Smith


Anti-fraud resources: