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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: "kenneth abel" <kennethabel04@msn.com>
Reply-To: ken_abel04@myway.com
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:19:21 +0000
Subject: URGENT REPLY

BARRISTER. KENNETH ABEL. L.L.B. L.L.M B.L
LEGAL PRACTITIONER AND CONSULTANT
MEMBER CONSTITUTION DRAFTING COMMITTEE 1995

Dear Sir/madam

I am Barrister Kenneth Abel, An Attorney at Law in the Republic of Benin and
the personal Attorney to Mr.Graig C. Wright, a stock Broker who also deals
on comodities, whom I believe was a National of your country. This client of
mine died on september 11th Terrorist Attack on the world trade center in
the U S A. He died on a secondary cause of the Terrorist Attack on the ( WTC
) when a Car conveying him and his wife crashed into a stationary Truck at
the premises of the ( WTC ) in the ensuing confusion. The Truck actually
belonged to the Fire Service Authorities of the USA and since then I have
been in a legal tussle with the Authority to include the names of my client
and his wife into the list of the Attack Victims but this has not worked
yet.

Before he died, my client has the sum of US$10.7,000.00 (Ten Million, seven
hundred Thousand US Dollars) in his account with Reliance Bank ( RELIANCE DU
BENIN ).Since then I have made several inquiries to locate any of his
extended relatives but this has proved unsuccessful. After these several
unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his name over the
Internet, to locate any member of his family. This has also not paid-off. I
therefore, decided to contact you to assist me in claiming of the money as
the next-of-kin to my late client. His Account will be declared
"unserviceable" by the Bank if the money remains unclaimed by his relatives
after a reasonable time and this will mean a total loss.

I therefore, seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the
deceased so that the money US$10.7m will be paid to you ,then I and you will
share the money. Note that all neccesary legal documents will be in place to
back up the claims. All I require is your
honest cooperation 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.

Once I have your consent and trust,I will immediately raise all necesary
documents and instruct the bank to move the money on your name to the
account number you may chose. Please, do get in touch with me as soon as
possible so that we will discuss further the progress of this business.
Remmember to send your full name, address, phone and fax numbers.
Anticipating your urgent response.

With my best regards,

Barr. Kenneth Abel.


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