joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: paulius mathins <pauliusmathins@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 08:52:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Mathins



From: Paulius Mathins
Bijakovici Bc 98532
Lithuania - Vilnius

Dear Harry Anslinger,

I have a proposal for you, this however is not mandatory nor will I in anymannercompel you to honour the content against your will. I am Mr.Paulius Mathins, I work with a bank (one of the leading banks in Lithuania).

Here in this bank exists a dormant account for the past 6 years which belongs to an American national who is now late, Mr. John Cuthbertson, who died on
Alaska Airlines on Alaska Airline Flight 261 in January 31, 2000. Reference:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/.

When I discovered that there had been no deposits or withdrawals from this account for this long period, I decided to carry out a system investigation and discovered that none of the family members nor relations of the late person is aware of this account. Now I want an account overseas where the bank will transfer this fund.

Thereafter, I will destroy all related documents to this account. It is a careful network and for the past eleven months I have worked out everything to ensure a hitch-free operation. The amount plus all the accumulated interest is US$20,736,400.00 (Twenty million, seven hundred and thirty six thousand, four hundred US Dollars only). Now my questions are: -

1. Can you handle this project?
2. Can I give you this trust?
3. What will be your commission if you can facilitate the movement of this fund to your account?

Consider these and get back to me as soon as possible with your full names, private telephone and fax numbers, corresponding postal address, etc.

Finally, it is my humble request that the information as contained herein be accorded with every confidentiality and the necessary secrecy it deserves
I expect your urgent response to this request.

Respectfully yours,

Mr.Paulius Mathins


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

Anti-fraud resources: