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: "j m" <jjaams7@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jamuche@freenet.de
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 21:30:34 +0000
Subject: LETTER

>From the Desk of:
MR. JAMES UCHE
Lagos Nigeria.

With great honour I,MR JAMES UCHE Manager of a Bank (name upheld) is writing
in respect of a foreign customer, an Oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC),Engr.Lee Seunghyo made a
numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months valued at
S$25,000,000.00 (Twenty-five Million Dollars) in my branch.

Upon honesty, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply. After a month, I sent a reminder and finally I discovered from
his contract employers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that
Engr.Lee Seunghyo died in Korean Air Flight 801, which crashed in Guam on
August 1997 with other passengers onboard. I therefore made further
investigation and discovered that Engr. Lee Seunghyo died without making a
WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless. Also, he did
not declare any next of kin or relations in all his official
documents,including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.This sum of
US$25,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the interest is being
rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year.

Since the demise of this our customer, I have personally watched the account
to see the next of kin but to no avail as no one has come to claim this
FIXED DEPOSIT fund of USD.$25million, [Twenty five million United States
Dollars] which has been in my branch for a very long time.

Hence I have decided to seek your co-operation in this business deal due to
the sensitivity of this transaction. It may interest you to know that I am
only contacting you as a foreigner because this money cannot be approved to
a local Bank account here, but can only be approved to a foreigner with an
account since the money is in US Dollars. I have decided as a matter of
urgency to seek your permission to have you stand as next of kin to the
deceased Engr. Lee Seunghyo as No one has ever come forward to claim this
fund. In accordance to Nigerian Law, fund deposited for a long period of
time without claim will be reverted to the Nigerian Government treasury if
nobody applies to claim this fund after a long period of time. I want you to
co-operate with me so that the fruits of this man's labour will not get into
the hands of some unscrupulous corrupt government officials if NOT CLAIMED
now. I have secured from the probate an Order of Madamus to locate any of
deceased beneficiaries. Hence I am contacting you with this proposal.

This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately your full names and
address,Date of Birth, Occupation,Tel & Fax Numbers so that the Attorney
will prepare the necessary documents and affidavits which will put you in
place as the next of kin. We shall employ the services of two Attorneys for
drafting and notorization of the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents
and letter of probate/administration in your favour for the transfer. The
Bank cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for
claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking
guidelines. I have almost resolved to finalize this transaction with some
money to secure documents in your name as the bonafide beneficiary of this
fund $25m which guarantees our safety and successful transfer. With the
above suggestion, It is reliable,safe and quick for transfer process.

At the successful conclusion of this business, your goodself shall be
entitled to an agreed percentage of the total money while I will have the
balance. I am ready to invest a reasonable percentage of mine into any
viable business you suggest as a joint partner.

Your response is highly imperative as this is a TWO-man business deal
transaction as I shall then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand the transaction. I need your
assistance and co-operation to this reality as I have done my Home-work and
fine tune the best way to create you as the next of kin.All the paperwork
for this transaction will be done by the Attorney and my position as the
Branch Manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction with
you as the beneficiary to this fund. Your percentage will also be a source
of upliftment.I will want to guarantee you that this business is riskfree as
I have mapped out all modalities to succeed.

I will appreciate your early reply for commencement of this business.Contact
me for acknowledgement by E-mail and whereby you are not interested, please
indicate in your reply so that I can seek for the assistance of someone
else.

Thanks for your expected co-operation and treat ASAP as your utmost
Trust,Honesty and Confidentiality will be highly appreciated in this
business deal transaction.

Thanks with great regards.

MR. JAMES UCHE


Anti-fraud resources: