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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: Dogulas James <dogulas_j5@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:30:53 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Reply me immediately


>From the office of
The Chief Accountant
Bills and Credits
Foreign Remittance
ECOBANK Lome-Togo

My Dear,

My name is Prof. Douglas James, I am the Chief Accountant for the Bills and Credits in the Foreign Remittance Unit of ECOBANK Headquarters here in Lome,Republic of Togo.

I am writing in respect of a foreign customer of my bank with account number:22-4586-4456/ECBOT, whose name is Late Mr. Chang Myungnam, who perished in a plane crash [Korean Air Flight 801] which crashed in Guam on Wednesday August 6,1997 ,killing the whole passengers abroad.

Note, for your perusal, you can view this website
<http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/06/guam.passenger.list/>

Since the demise of this our customer,I personally has watched with keen interest to see the next of kin but all has proved abortive as no one has come to claim his funds of US$10.5M, [Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars] which has been with my branch for a very long time.

I am the account officer to the deceased when he was still alive,I want to use my position as one of the senior staff of the bank who knows about his deposit to seek for a reliable foreign partner that will stand as the next of kin/new beneficiary to the deceased deposit with the bank.

Note that our banking ethics here does not allow such money to stay more than eight years,without being recalled to the bank treasury as unclaimed deposit.
In view of this I got your contact through a trade journal and decided to contact you.I will give you 25% of the total sum for your assistance.

Upon the receipt of your response,I will send you by fax or e-mail the Application Letter and other necessary documents which you will use to apply to the bank as the next of kin to the deceased customer.

I will not fail to bring to your notice that this business is hitch free and that you should not entertain any fear as all modalities for fund transfer can be finalized within ten banking days,from the date you applied to the bank as a relation to the deceased.
When you receive this letter,Kindly send me an e-mail signifying your decision including your private Tel/Fax numbers for quick communication.

I will be here till success is achieved and will be feeding you with every information that the bank will expect from you as a relation to the deceased.Be rest assured that you will never regret your involvement in this transaction.

May God be with you.

Prof. Douglas James
The Chief Accountant
Bills and Credits
Foreign Remittance
ECOBANK Lome-Togo

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