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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: "bello emeka" <belloemeka02@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: belloemeka1@myway.com
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:39:28 +0000
Subject: Greetings

 
Hello  ,
 
Greetings. You may be surprised to receive this letter from me since
you do not know me personally but circumstances made it this way
today and I sincerely hope you will not turn me down.
 
My name is Bello Emeke,the confidential secretary to ALLEN FRIEDMANN
an Expartriate Oil Consultant/Contractor with AFRICAN PETROLEUM
Corporation Lagos-Nigeria.Who died Feb. 2000 during vacation."Check site for
details"(
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list)
 
Before his Death, My Boss made a Fixed Deposit, valued in Millions of
Dollars and he kept all the deposit documents in my house in confidence
before this untimely death.His Fiancee Miss Linda Barnett has collected
a huge amount for compensation from his employers the APC ,and
has also sold everything my boss acquired,including his private Company
and have just left with another man to the Bahamas with all the
money she realised from the sales of his properties and Eastate.
 
I am seeking your consent to present you as the next of kin to the
deceased, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you
for us to share in the ratio of 50% for You and 50% for me.

I wouldnt be happy to see his labour on earth wasted or diverted
 by some corrupt bank officials thus my reason for contacting You.
 
This project will be done under a legal arrangement so If you are interested
in this offer,please contact me immediately for more confidential and
heart to heart talks before we can contact the bank for the release of the
deposit to your account.
 
Waiting to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Bello Emeke

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