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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: "DAN" <danthemba@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 May 2006 21:15:00
Subject: Urgent Attention


STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Good Day,
You may be surprised to receive this strange letter from me. I am Dan Mbalula the son of Mr. Themba Mbalula of Zimbabwe. However, I got your address from a research I made by myself from the information exchange center via the Internet. But after due consideration from your profile, I became aware and assured of your credibility to help me.

My father was among the black rich farmers in Zimbabwe who was murdered in cold blood by the agents of the ruling government of President Robert Mugabe because my father was against the method adopted by the government on New Land Reform Act that wholly affected the white farmers in Zimbabwe. Before the invasion, my father took me to South Africa as if he foresaw the looming danger in Zimbabwe and deposited US$22,400,000.00 (Twenty two Million, four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) with a security and finance company in South Africa. This money was meant for buying farmlands in Lesotho, Swaziland and also for farm machinery and inputs for the farms.

Heads of government from Western World especially Britain and United States of America have voiced their condemnation against Mugabe's New Land Reform Act. It is against this background that my family has mandated me to seek for assistance to transfer this money to a foreign account for investment purposes. Presently, I am residing in South Africa as an asylum seeker.

However, I cannot invest this money here in South Africa because Zimbabwe and South Africa are sister country and has almost the same political history. Moreover, with the financial laws of South Africa; as an asylum seeker. I have no right to own or open an account on my name. From the above you can understand that my entire life and family depends on this money. I shall be grateful if you can assist me to transfer this money out of South Africa into your company or personal account. This transaction is 100% risk free. For your effort, I am prepared to offer you 25% out of the total sum. In addition, I have to use 5% of this money to settle for any expenses you may inure during the process of this transfer. The balance I intended to invest in a profitable venture in your country or anywhere you may advise.

The major thing I demand from you is absolute assurance that this money will be safe when transferred to your account. If acceptable by you, please do send an email with the above email address and get in touch with me on this number +27-76-886-0616 or email me danmbalula@patialvi.com, I will then furnish you with more details and don't fail to include your direct phone number. I will be happy if you maintain the confidentiality of this matter because of the happening in my country - Zimbabwe.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Mbalula.
.





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