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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "briggs bayovo" <briggsassociates1@msn.com>
Reply-To: briggs_esq@excite.com
Date: Thu, 02 Feb 2006 13:57:33 +0000
Subject: REPLY URGENT

Dear Friend,

I am Barrister Briggs Bayovo a solicitor at law.The personal attorney to a
late Mr.Wilson Horak, a foriegn expatriate who hails from your country .I
wish to bring to your hearing a business proposition, which is by nature
strictly confidential, and I beg your pardon to accept my
unsolicited email to you, I will like to seek your help in which I know that
a deal of this magnitude
will make anyone worried and apprehensive but I am assuring you not to be
afraid,as all will be well at the end of this endeavor.

This is a genuine transaction and is 100% risk free.All I'm demanding from
you is your honest co-operation to enable us achieve our goal, and not a
perfidious person. On the 6th of May, 2002 it was reported to us that my
Client, his wife and their only daughter were involved in a
Local Plane Crash at Kano State,enroute Abuja (The Capital City) all
occupants in the Plane lost their lives,unfortunately on this same flight
were other dignitaries like the Sports Minister and a host of
others.The following websites could be referenced:

http://www.usafricaonline.com/ngrkanocrash.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1968616.stm

Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy tolocate any of my
clients extended relatives this has also proved unsuccessful. After these
several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the
Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted
you. I contacted you to assist in claiming this fund from the finance house
where he deposited it before his untimely death.The finance company where
the deceased had an account valued at about "USD$8.5Mmillion Dollars" has
issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account
confisicated within the next ten official working days.Since I have been
unsuccesfull in locating the relatives for over 2 years now I seek your
consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased so that the
proceeds of this account valued at "USD$8.5Mmillion Dollars" can be
aid to you as the next of kin.

All I need is your full maximum suport and cooperation to enable us achieve
this transaction within 10 working days and I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any
breach of the law. If you are interested in this transaction, kindly furnish
me with your full name, age and address,private telephone and fax numbers to
enable us commence all the legal documents immediately.

Alternative:briggs_esq@excite.com

Best regards,
Barrister Briggs Bayovo


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