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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: "JIM WILLIAMS" <jim_williams101@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 17:01:27 +0000
Subject: GOOD DAY

>From the desk of:
Mr. Jim Williams
First Atlantic Bank Ltd
Lagos, Nigeria.
Good day,

I am so sorry to bulge on you like this without knowing you prior to
this day but I employ you to please read this mail because it has
immense financial benefits for the both of us.

I am Mr. Jim Williams, Bank Manager of First Atlantic Bank Ltd,Lagos
Branch.I got your contact on my private search on the Internet and I
listed your name and prayed over them and decided to contact you
directly.

I have a very urgent and confidential business proposition for you and
for our overall mutual interest.

On December 6 1997,an American oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Mr. Henry Gardner made a
numbered time(fixed) deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at
USD$25,000,000.00(twenty five million dollars) in my branch. Upon
maturity, I sent a routinenotification to his forwarded address but got
no reply. After a month we sent a reminderand finally we discovered from
his
contract employers NNPC, that Mr. Henry died in an automobile accident.
On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a WILL and
all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless.

I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Henry
did not declare any next of kin in all his official documents,
including his bank deposit paperwork. This sum USD$25,000,000.00 is still
floating in
the bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at
the end of each year. No one will come forward to claim it. According to
Nigerian Laws, at the expiration of 8 (eight) years, the money will
revert to the ownership of the Nigerian government if nobody applies to
claim the
funds.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to
stand in as a next of kin of Mr. Henry Gardner.
This is simple

1) I will like you to provide me immediately with your full names &
address so that an attorney will prepare the necessary documents and
affidavits, which will put you as next of kin.

2) We shall employ the services of an attorney for drafting &
notarization of the WILL and obtain the necessary documents and letter
of probate/administration in your favor for the transfer.

3) A bank account in any part of the world, which you will provide to
facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary.
The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio
of 60% for me and 40% for you, which we will both sign and agree to, by
a Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U) before we proceed with the transfer
of the money to you.

There is no risk at all as the attorney will do the paperwork for this
transaction and with my position as the branch manager guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction. If you are interested, please
reply immediately via this private email address. Upon your response, I
shall then provide you with more details and relevant documents that
will help you understand.

PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY, and be rest assured that this
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 via this email below, please save me the
anxiety of endless waiting.

Please reply to :jimwilliams2003@hotmail.com
God bless you.
Mr. Jim Williams
First Atlantic Bank Ltd.
Lagos, Nigeria.

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