joewein.de LLC fighting spam and scams on the Internet

Try our spam filter! Free trial for 30 days

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
• "Is that email a scam?" - Check it online here!
  
• Frequently asked Questions (419 FAQ)
• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
  1 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
• Support our efforts to stop scams!
  
• How to report 419 spam to us
• What can you do when you receive 419 spam
  
  
• Spam archive, Daily index
  

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.

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:

• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "sani abacha" (the name of a person or institution often appearing in 419 scams)
  • "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
• This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: idrisumar234@zipmail.com.br
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:34:04 +0100
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?urgent?=

Dear

By way of introduction I am Mr Idris Umar
working in the credit and accounts department Union
Bank of Nigeria Plc, Lagos, Nigeria. I write you in
respect of a foreign customer with Domicilary A/C
number 6402356789 His name is Engineer Joseph
Schultzman. He was among those who died in a plane
crash here in Nigeria during the regime of late
General Sani Abacha.

Since the demise of this our customer, Engineer Joseph
Schultzman, who was an oil marchant/contractor, I have
kept a close watch of the deposit records and accounts
and since then no body has come to claim the money in
this a/c as next of kin to the late Engineer. He had
only $38.5mllion in his a/c and the a/c is coded.

It is only an insider that could produce the code or
password of the deposit particulars. As it stands now,
there is nobody in that position to produce the needed
information other than my very self considering my
position in the bank. Based on the reason that nobody
has come forward to claim the deposit as next of kin,
I hereby ask for your co operation in using your name
as the next of kin to the deceased to send these funds
out to a foreign offshore bank a/c for mutual sharing
between myself and you.

At this point I am the only one with the information
because I have removed the deposit file from the safe.
By this doing, what is required of you is to send an
application laying claims of the deposit as next of
kin to the late Engineer. I will need your full name
and address, company or residential, so that i can
computerize them to tally with next of kin column in
the certificate of deposit. I want you to understand
that the request for a foreigner as the next of kin is
occasioned by the fact that the customer was a
foreigner and for that reason alone a local cannot
represent as next of kin.

When you contact me then we shall discuss on how the
money will be split between us. Trusting to hear from
you.

I remain Respectfully.

Yours,
Idris Umar

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam