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: "Mr Paul Simon" <paulsis@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 19:05:29 +0000
Subject: STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.

FROM:DIRECTOR,
EURO PACIFIC BOND TRUST (EPBT) LTD
P.O.Box 1010
LONDON, L70 1NL
UNITED KINGDOM
Dear Friend,
My name is Mr. Paul Simon. Married with three children. I am the Diretor of Europe Pacific Bond Security & Finance Services Limited, LONDON UK. I got the information I have been working with this company for over fifteen years. Within this period of time, I have watched with meticulous precision how African Heads of State and Government functionaries have been using Europe Pacific Security & Finance Ltd to move sums of money USD, Pounds Sterling, French Francs (cash) to their foreign partners.
They bring in these consignments of cash and secretly declare the contents as jewelries, gold, diamonds, precious stones, family treasures, and documents etc. Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (dead), Gen. Sanni Abacha of Nigeria (dead),Fode Sank oy of Sierra Leone, Babangida of Nigeria, Felix Houphet Boignyof Cote d"Ivoire (dead), Kanan Bedie of Cote d"Ivoire (Abidjan)etc. All these people have many
consignments deposited with my office.
Their foreign partners, friends and relatives are claiming most of these consignments. A lot of them are lying here unclaimed for as much as eight years. Nobody will ever come for them because in most cases, the Certificate of Deposit are never available to anybody except the depositors and me since most of them are dead. I haveit through the instrumentality of Europe Pacific Security & Finance re-deposited all these unclaimed and overstayed consignment into the Vault Facility of a reputable Security Company in Europe.
Consequently, in our bid to contact this client of ours to redeem the demurrage which his consignment had accumulated we discovered that our client was the former President of Zaire, who died of illness after he was dethroned in the same year,The consignment was entrusted into our care. Before the death of our client, President Mobutu Seseseko,and none of his benefactors has come forward to claim the consignment with us, which means that none of his relation or aides had any knowledge of this consignment. Hence out of curiosity I decided to secretly scan the box that our client deposited in our vault.
And to my surprise I discovered that the box, that was registered as treasures by our client,actually contained a considerable amount of money in United State Dollars, amounting to about US$68,000.000.00. Since this development I have been nursing plans secretly.
I also found out from enquiries and the foreign media that our late client siphoned a lot of money from his country while he was in office as Head of State. It is my conviction that the consignment in our vault was part of the money our cleint siphoned and now that he is dead there is no trace of this money in our care. I am now soliciting your noble assistance to assist me in transferring this money out of United Kingdom to your country for immediate investment with your assistance.
I have also decided that you will generously be entitled to 25% of the total amount. Upon my receipt of your reply confirming your  willingness to assist me of this transaction, I will immediately arrange and transfer all the right of ownership of this consignment to your name, to facilitate your easy clearance and transfer of the complete fund to your country for onward investment and i want to assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free. Please maintain absolute confidentiality on this matter. I await your most prompt response through my confidential E-mail address below.
Awaiting your trust and positive respond to proceed
Yours faithfully,
Paul Simon.
--

Anti-fraud resources: