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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: "tony williams" <tonywilliams0001@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: tonywillians@myway.com
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 17:42:22 +0000
Subject: ENGR.TONY WILLIAMS

ENGR.TONY WILLIAMS
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF
PETROLEUM AND MINERAL
RESOURCES.
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,
LAGOS, NIGERIA
WEST AFRICA.
ATTN:
Dear Friend,
RE:REQUEST FOR URGENT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP IN RESPECT OF
THE TRANSFER OF $25,500,000.00(TWENTY-FIVE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED AMERICAN
DOLLARS)INTO YOUR ACCOUNT.

I,on behalf of my other colleagues from different Federal Government of
Nigeria owned parastatals decided to solicit your assistance as regards the
transfer of the above stated amount into your bank account.Thisfund arose
from the overinvoicing of various contracts awarded in my parastatalto
certain foreign contractors sometime ago. We as holders of sensitive
positions in our various parastatal, were mandated by the federal government
to scrutinise all payments made to foreign contractors,and discovered that
some of the contracts they executed were grossly over invoiced, either by
Comission or commission. Also, we discovered that the sum of
$33,000,000.00(thirty three million American dollars only)was lying in a
suspense account, although the foreign contractors were fully paid their
entitlements after executing the said contracts.
We all agreed that the over-invoiced amount be transferred into a bank
account provided by a foreign partner, as the code of conduct of federal
civil does not allow us to operate foreign accounts. However, we have
servicesuceeded in transferring some of the monies, precisely
US$7.5(Sevenmillion five Hundred American Dollars) into a foreign account in
united State of America,but unfortunately the provider of the account has
severed all formsof communication with us as he has refused to adhere to our
earlier mutual agreement, insisting that the total amount be paid into his
nominated bank account before disbursement will take effect.
We are therefore seeking your assistance based on the balance amount
US$25.5M which can be speedily processed and fully remitted into your
nominated bank account. On successful remittance of the funds into your
account,you will be compensated with 20% of of the amount for your
assistance andservices.
This transaction is closely knitted and in view of our sensitive
positions we cannot afford a slip.
I assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free.We will avail you
with our identities as regards our respective office when relationship
is fully established and smooth operation commences. I am at your
disposition to entertain any questions from you in respect of this
transaction, so,contact me immediately through the above email address for
further informationon the requirements and procedure. Please note that this
is a DEAL and confidentiality is of very great importanceb for security
reasons.
Please treat with strict confidenlity and utmost urgency.
N.B: Your telephone and fax numbers are needed for easy communication.
Best regards
ENGR.TONY WILLIAMS
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF
PETROLEUM AND MINERAL
RESOURCES



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