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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: "smith young" <smithyoung2006@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:23:15 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend


Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Smith Young , Fund Manager of Swiss First Bank Ltd, Hong Kong.
I have an urgent and very confidential business proposition for you.
On october 15, 1999, our client Mr. Hatem Kamil Abdul Fatah who was the
deputy governor of Baghdad in Iraq and also business man made a numbered
fixed deposit
for 12 calendar months, with a value of Twenty Two Millions Five Hundred
Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch.
Upon maturity several notice was sent to him, even after the war late this
year.
Another notification was sent and still no response came from him.
We later find out that the Governor has been assasinated in Baghdad.
The websites below is a verification of the news about
his death:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/3970619.stm
http://www.uslaboragainstwar.org/article.php?id=6979
After further investigation it was also discovered
that Mr. Hatem Kamil Abdul Fatah did not declare any
next of kin in his official papers including the paper
work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me
the last time he was at my office that no one except
me knew of his deposit in my bank.
According to the Hong Kong Law,under china's foreign
and defense affairs,at the expiration of 5 (five)
years,such funds will revert to the ownership of the
chinese Government for financing military
operations,such as purchasing of arms and ammunitions
for the military.
I decided to divert the funds to europe vault company for
a saftey porpose and investment on some other tangiblle transaction.
In order to avert this negative development,i will like to seek for your
permission as a foreigner to
stand as the next of kin to Mr. Hatem Kamil Abdul Fatah so that the fruits
of this old man's labor will
not be use for financing weapons which will further enhance the courses of
war in the world in general. The money will be paid into your account for
us to share in the ratio of 60% for me and 30% for you and 10% for
Expenses Incurred in the course of the transaction. All document that back
up the transaction will be send to you in arccordance,as soon as the
transaction schedule to start.There is no risk at all as all the paperwork
for this transaction will be done by my attorney and with my position as
the credit officer i guarantees the successful execution of this
transaction. If you are interested,please reply immediately.
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and that
will help you understand the
transaction. You should observe utmost confidentiality,and rest
assured that this transaction would be most
profitable for both of us because I shall require your
assistance to invest my share in your country.
Awaiting your urgent reply.
Thanks and regards.
Mr. Smith Young

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