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.

 

 

Fraud email example:

From: "Jonathan Russell" <jr0102006@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: jon_russ@juno.com
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:28:18 +0000
Subject: Good Day

Good Day,
First, I must solicit your STRICT confidence in this
Proposition, this is by virtue of its nature as being
utterly, CONFIDENTIAL. I have decided to contact you
after serious considerantion to participate in a
business transaction the value of USD38.5M.
My name is Jonathan Russell. I work with one of the
leading private and offshore banks in the Isle of Man.
The Proposition: On January 6, 1999, an Egyptian oil
consultant/contractor, Mr. Youssef Genidy George, made
a numbered time (fixed) deposit for 24 calendar months
value US$38.5M in my bank. On maturity, we sent a
routine notification to his forwarding address but got
no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder but
unfortunately we found out that he was amongst the
victims of the EgyptAir Flight 990 that occured
September 1999, months after he made the deposit.
Visit the site below for more news on the unfortunate
tragedy.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm>
Right now, my bank is at the edge of declaring the
funds UNCLAIMABLE since nobody has come forward to
claim the deposited money with my bank.
Mr Youssef unfortunately did not leave a beneficiary's
name with my bank nor did he leave the name of his
next of kin. It is inlight of this that I have decided
to contact you to stand in as the beneficiary of the
deposited funds by the late MR Youssef. Since I work
in the bank, and in my capacity, I will make you the
beneficiary of the said funds. There are two options
open to successfully make you the beneficiary of the
deposited money. I have thought about these options
very well and found out they are foolproof. Moreso, I
have all related documents and information about the
deposit. I will provide you these options and
documents upon your reply. Kindly respond with your
private phone and fax numbers.
I will await your response.
Kind regards,
Jonathan Russell.


Anti-fraud resources: