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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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Fraud email example:

From: "M H M M H M" <mhm200@msn.com>
Reply-To: mhm009@excite.com
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:41:32 +0000
Subject: Assistance

Mrs. Mairo Hamza Al'Mustapha
#12, Alhaji Sheu Danbaba Avenue
Off Airport Road
Lagos State,
Nigeria.
Dear Friend,
contact was necessitated after going through your profile few days
ago on the internet, my Son and I then decided to communicate you. I
know this letter might sound strange to you, prior to the high level of
fraud letters in the world today especially from Nigeria. But I must
guarantee the genuineness of my letter as you must have heard about it
in some international dailies, BBC, CNN and some local dailies here in
Nigeria.

I am Mrs. Mairo Mustapha the wife of Gen.Hamza A'lMustapha, the former
chief security officer to the last military Head of State. As you might have
known,
my husband was falsely accused and detained by the present civilian
Government,
President Olusegun Obasanjo for attempted coup and is now charged for
treason.
Recently, the Federal Government placed a restriction order on every member
of my
family and sized all my husband’s assets and freeze all our Bank accounts
both
domiciliary and foreign.

However, in spite of the harsh treatment from the Government, we still
have USD $35 Million (Thirty Five Million United State Dollars) which
nobody knows about in a bank here in Lagos. I have on several occasions
made efforts to transfer the said funds abroad but was not successful,
hence, the Bank Manager advised me to source for a reputable and
reliable foreigner that will assist me in transferring the said fund abroad.
He further assured me of using his position as the Bank Manager to
influence the smooth transfer of the said fund into your bank account
or any account you may provide.

If this is O.K, then you can send me your full name and address to this
email address <mhm009@excite.com> after which I will
instruct my Son to make arrangement with a lawyer that will draft an
agreement and a promissory note. Please this email was open specially
for this purpose and this must be kept confidential.
Meanwhile, for more information on my husband case, you can visit the
following web pages:
http://www.nigerianmuse.com/important_documents/u=Hamza_allegedcoup_plot.htm
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/nationalx/nr304062005.html
http://www.dawodu.com/coup3.htm
http://allafrica.com/stories/200506060349.html
My warm regards to your family.
Mrs. Mairo Mustapha



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