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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: british030@comcast.net (Mr.Vincent Cheung)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:14:20 +0000
Subject: HELLO DEAR FRIEND!!!

Dear friend,

Let me start by introducing myself, my name is Mr.Vincent Cheung. I am
writing you to make a proposition to you that will be favourable to you and I. I know that
this is an unusual manner of communicating such a proposition, but it is
pertinent I make a move at this point, if I am to succeed in this venture.
I work in the operations department of a bank in Hong Kong {name withheld for
security reasons at this point}.I am responsible for arranging high
volume deposits in my bank and tracing next of kin/beneficiaries of
investors/investments at my bank at maturity of such investments.Over
the years I have processed such deposits/investments. There have of
course been cases of unclaimed deposits and no known next of kin/beneficiary,due to the fact that by
the law here, monies such as this if unclaimed and if no next of kin is found
after three years reverts automatically to the state, my superiors found a way
around this by presenting phoney next of kin/beneficiary for this monies and
instructed me in such cases to process applications for claims on
behalf of those phoney people as next of kin/beneficiary for this
monies and shared it among themselves.I have been the officer in charge
of all such transactions over the last five years.
However at this present time there is a deposit made by one Major Fadi Basem
who was with the Iraqi forces and also a business man who made a numbered fixed
deposit for 18 calendar months running into millions of(US)dollars.Upon
maturity,I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply. After a month,I sent a reminder and finally discovered
that the Majorand his family had been killed during the war in a bomb
blast that hit theirhome. On further investigation,I found out that he
died without making aWILL,and all attempts to trace his next of kin
was fruitless.I therefore made further investigation and discovered
that Major Fadi did not declare any next
of kin or relations in all his official documents,including his Bank Deposit
paperwork in our Bank.I am the only one in full knowledge of the fact that
there is no next of kin/beneficiary.This time around,I intend processing this
claim application myself with the assistance and agreement of a trustworthy
partner to conclude it,knowing fully well that if I disclose this to my
superiors they will once again use me to divert the monies for
themselves and give me peanuts for my efforts. I have perfected all the
legal modalities,withthe help of a trusted friend,confidant who is
also an attorney all necessary documentation for the successful
transfer of the monies to a supposed next of
kin/beneficiary of my choosing.This we can successfully achieve if you are
willing to be a partner with me in this deal,it is straight forward and very
risk-free as all processes will be done within the dictates of the law.
If you are interested in being a partner with me in this, please send me an
e-mail with your full names and address.Once I receive this, the attorney
will immediately commence filing the necessary application for the
final release and transfer of the funds to an account nominated by
you. However, if you feel this is above your head,kindly destroy this
letter and forget about it. Due to the nature and amount of money
involved in this and the fact that I am still
employed by the bank, you must keep this totally confidential.Once I receive
this information, I will then send you a more detailed explanation of the scope
and procedure we will take to effectively secure this fund for the benefit
of us all. Once again I want you to know that there is totally no
risk involved as everything will be processed legally.
I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE VIA EMAIL TO THIS ADDRESS:

Email:enquiryCheung01@aim.com

Thank you for your time and I urgently and anxiously await a positive
reply.

Best
regards,
Mr.Vincent

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