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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "BENEDICT BROWN" <benedictbrown@msn.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 16:10:42 +0000
Subject: Get Back To Me

CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER
LEGAL CONCERN GROUPS
ATTORNEY BENEDICT
PLOT 235 ADEMOLA CRESCENT
WUSE 2 ABUJA, NIGERIA
Tel: +234-8037922795

ATTENTION Lim:

I have resolved to contact you based on a proposal that will be of mutual
benefit to you. I got
your particulars through an Online guide based on my research for a
trustworthy and established person.
I am Attorney Benedict Brown. The chief legal Officer of Legal Concern
Groups.
Please be informed that my Client Castro Lim who was a one time contractor
that serviced a number of petroleum pipelines in Nigeria, made a numbered
fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a value of twenty four millions
five hundred thousand United State Dollars with a Financial Firm here in
Nigeria. Upon maturity several notices was sent to him. Another
notification was sent to him early this year and still no response came from
him. I later found out through the bank Officials that Castro Lim and his
family had been killed by an Explosive that destroyed their home in Gaza.
After carrying out investigations on my legal files, i discovered that late
Castro Lim declared his only daugther as the Next of Kin in his legal papers
including the papers of his bank deposit Without any WILL, but unfortunately
his daughter was among the family members Killed by the Explosive. However,
he confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me
knew of his deposit in the bank. As you can see, twenty four million five
hundred thousand United States Dollars is still lying in the Bank and no
one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me most is that
according to the laws of my country at the expiration of 3 years the funds
will revert to the ownership of the Federal Government as an unclaimed
deposit. Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that since you bear
the same name with my late client, i want you to stand as his Next of Kin so
that you will be able to receive his funds.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE:

I want you to know that I have had everything planned so that we will come
out successfully. All that is required from you at this stage is for you to
accept this offer, after you have been made the Next of Kin, i will also
file in for claims on your behalf and secure the necessary documentation for
the move of the funds to an account that will be provided by you.
There is no risk involved at all in the matter as we are going to adopt a
legalized method . Please
endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue.
your earliest response should be sent to my Email
on:benedictbrown_2005@yahoo.com

Most Sincerely,

Attorney Benedict Brown
Chief Legal Officer.
Legal Concern Groups.


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