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: "sam young" <info2samyoung@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: mrdicksonjohnson@z6.com
Date: Sun, 25 Dec 2005 10:06:12 -0500
Subject: YOUR RESPONSE IS MY CONCERN

23 bank anthony way
maryland ikeja
Lagos Nigeria


COMPLIMENT OF THE DAY

BEFORE I START, I MUST FIRST APOLOGIZE FOR THIS
UNSOLICITED MAIL TO YOU. I AM AWARE THAT THIS IS
CERTAINLY AN UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACH TO STARTING A
RELATIONSHIP, BUT AS TIME GOES ON YOU WILL REALIZE THE
NEED FOR MY ACTION. MY NAME IS johnson ihekwo, A SOLICITOR
AND THE PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO MR. JOHN RYERSON, A
NATIONAL OF YOUR COUNTRY, WHO WORKED WITH AN OIL
COMPANY IN NIGERIA. HERE-IN-AFTER REFERRED TO AS MY
CLIENT.

ON THE 21ST OF APRIL 1999, MY CLIENT, HIS WIFE AND
THEIR THREE CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED IN A GHASTLY MOTOR
ACCIDENT ALONG SAGAMU EXPRESS ROAD. MY CLIENT AND HIS
ENTIRE FAMILY UNFORTUNATELY LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE
ACCIDENT. SINCE THEN I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES TO
YOUR EMBASSY TO LOCATE ANY OF MY CLIENT'S EXTENDED
RELATIVES, WHICH HAS PROVED ABORTIVE AFTER THESE
SEVERAL UNSUCESSFUL ATTEMPTS.

MY MAIN REASON FOR CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME IN
REPATRIATING THE MONEY AND PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND BY MY
CLIENT BEFORE THEY ARE CONFISCATED OR DECLARED
UNSERVICEABLE BY THE BANK WHERE THEY ARE
DEPOSITED/LODGED. PARTICULARLY, THE UNION BANK PLC.
WHERE THE DECEASED HAS A FIXED SUM OF 20m uasdollars
. THE SAID BANK HAS ISSUED ME A
FINAL NOTICE TO PROVIDE THE NEXT OF KIN OF MY CLIENT
OR THEY WILL BE LEFT WITH NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO
CONFISCATE HIS FUNDS, A COPY OF THE SAID NOTICE I WILL
FAX TO ON GETTING YOUR REPLY.

SINCE I HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL IN LOCATING MY CLIENT'S
RELATIVES FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS NOW I SEEK
YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN OF MY
CLIENT SO THAT THE SAID FUNDS AS STATED ABOVE I.E,
THE SUM OF TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS CAN BE
PAID TO YOU INSTEAD OF LEAVING FOR UNION BANK PLC. WE
CAN TAKE PART OF IT AND LEAVE THE REST TO CHARITY. I
HAVE ALL NECESSARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE USED TO
BACK UP ANY CLAIM WE MAY MAKE ALL I REQUIRE IS YOUR
HONEST COOPERATION TO ENABLE US SEE THIS ARRANGEMENT
THROUGH.

I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A
LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY
BREACH OF THE LAW. PLEASE REPLY ME VIA THIS E-MAIL
ADDRESS{barristerjohnson2000@katamail.com}, FINALLY KINDLY GIVE
ME YOUR CONFIDENTAIL PHONE/FAX NUMBERS SO THAT I CAN
FAX TO YOU ALL THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE BANK AND
ME.

BEST REGARDS,
Barrister Johnson



Anti-fraud resources: