joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "huge deposit" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
  • "barrister" (Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.
• Barristers (lawyers) mentioned in 419 scams are always fake.
• This email lists mobile phone numbers. Use of such numbers is typical for scams because they allow criminals to conceal their true location. They can receive calls in an Internet cafe from where they send you emails, while pretending to be in some office.
  • +2348037161983 (Nigeria, prepaid mobile phone)

Fraud email example:

From: "Henry Gilbert" <henry_gilbert@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 01 Feb 2006 01:22:41 +0000
Subject: BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP (PLEASE REPLY ASAP)

Attn:

I am Barrister Henry Gilbert, the Personal Attorney to Engr. Sharapov
Umarov, a national of your country ,who was an oilconsultant/contractor
with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC).

On the 26th of December 2004, my client,his wife and their only son
were involved in a Motor Accident within Patani Road Warri
Portharcut,unfortunately they all lost their lives in the event of the
Accident, since then I have made several enquiries to your Embassy to
locate any of my client's extended relatives, this has also proved
unsuccessful, after these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace
his
relatives over the Internet to locate any member of his family but of no
avail,
hence I contacted you.
I contacted you to assist in repartrating the money and property left behind
by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the
bank where this huge deposits were lodged. Particularly, the Bank where
the deceased had an account valued at about $15 million U.S dollars(Fifteen
million us dollars).

Conseqently, the bank issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have
the account confiscated within the next ten official working days,
since I have been unsuccesfull in locating the the relatives for over 2
years
now.I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased
since you are from the same country so that the proceeds of this account
valued at$ 15 million U.S dollars can be paid to you and then you and me can
share the money, 50% to me and 45% to you,while 5% should be for expenses or
tax as your government may require. I have allnecessary legal documents that
can be used to back up any claim we may make.

All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this deal
through.I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.
Please get in touch with me by email to enable us discuss further.

Yours Faithfully.

Barrister Henry Gilbert.
115,Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja.
Lagos - Nigeria.
Phone:234-80- 37161983

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam