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

Fraud email example:

From: "john bankole" <bankolejohn4u@msn.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 23:55:40 +0000
Subject: Mr.John Bankole

Goodday,

I would like to begin by way of introduction; My name is Mr.John Bankole, a native of Nigeria. I am a senior employee of Nigerian Department of Energy and Mineral Resources.You were introduced to us in confidence through the Nigerian Chambers of Commerce and Foreigntrade division.I am writing this letter to solicit your co-operation in order to redeem an investment currently held under trust with the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources of Nigeria. The said investment now valued at USD$25.5M (Twenty five million, five hundred thousand American dollars), was originally purchased by one Mr.Rudi Fassnacht, and leased to the Transvaal Orange Mining Corporation in 1981.Since the maturity of this contract in march 2001,several attempts have been made without success to contact Mr.Rudi Fassnacht or any of his close relatives, in whose favour the investment cash value can be paid.Mr.Rudi Fassnacht died in a plane crash

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm>

My partner, who is the Account Director in the same Ministry and I, have initiated the process of filing a claim for this money with the hope of having the funds transferred to you. In order to do this, we will swear an affidavit in the High Court of my country stating that you are a distant cousin and next of kin to Mr.Rudi Fassnacht the owner of the money. After which,we will file a claim for this money from the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources, indicating that you were appointed by Mr.Rudi Fassnacht to be the beneficiary of these funds. When the claim is approved you as the beneficiary will be paid the sum of USD$25.5M.

The money will be paid directly to any bank of your choice; you will have the responsibility to ensure that my partner and I receive 70% of the money while you keep 25% for your assistance.

The remaining 5% will be for incidental expenses.I want to assure you that my partner and I are

in a position to make the payment of this claim possible provided that you can give us very strong guarantee that our share will be secured,and that you will not take advantage of our position.

Be assured that there is absolutely nothing to worry about in the view of this claim. It is perfectly safe with no risks involved, and it is not subject to any inquiry, since my partner and I will be handling the claim directly in Nigeria on your behalf.I do hope my proposal is acceptable to you.so that I can provide you with more clarification about the claim and how we intend to make this deal beneficial to everyone involved,hope to hear from you soon, please do not forget to include your telephone number when replying this letter.

Yours Sincerely,

Mr.John Bankole

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