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: STEVEN MARTINES <steven_martines23@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 10:56:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: WE NEED YOUR HELP


DEAR SIR,
FIRST AND FOREMOST,I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST
CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION AND I PRAY THAT MY
DECISION TO CONTACT YOU WILL BE GIVEN GENUINE APPROVAL
CONSIDERING THE FACTS WE HAVE NOT KNOWN EACH OTHER
BEFORE, I WISH TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE
MYSELF TO YOU.
I AM STEVEN MARTINES FROM ZIMBABWE,WEST AFRICA. I WRITES
TO INFORM YOU MY DESIRE TO INVEST,AND TO BUY A LIVING
HOUSE IN YOUR COUNTRY. I AM THE FIRST SON OF MR. DAVID
STEVENS, HE WAS THE RICHEST WHITE FARMER IN MY
COUNTRY.MY FATHER HAD A BULLET SHOT BY BLACK SQUATTERS
WHO CAME TO OUR FARM HOUSE IN HARARE DISGUISING
THEMSELVES
AS GORVERNMENT OFFICIALS. SEE THIS LINK TO GET ALL
FURTHER
INFORMATIONS REGARDING HIS DEATH:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/04/15/zimbabwe.land.03/
AFETR THE DEATH OF MY FATHER WE RECEIVED THREATS THAT
WE SHOULD
LEAVE THE COUNTRY, SO WHILE CHECKING MY FATHERS
DOCUMENTS
I DISCOVERED HE DEPOSIT MONEY IN A BANK IN GHANA;
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK,
THE SUM
OF $19.8 MILLION USD(NINETEEN MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS)
PRESENTLY MYSELF AND MY YOUNGER SISTER ARE HERE IN
GHANA,AND WE ARE
STAYING IN IN A HOTEL HERE. THEREFORE I WANT YOU TO
LECTURE ME ON HOW BEST WE CAN INVEST THIS
MONEY,BECAUSE MY FATHER TOLD ME THAT IT IS DANGEROUS
TO INVEST THIS MONEY IN AFRICA TO AVIOD SUSPICIONS,AND
DUE TO MARKET INSTABILITY COUPLED WITH ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL INSTABILITY FACING AFRICAN COUNTRIES,THAT IS
WHY WE WANT TO INVEST IN ABROAD.WE HAVE SINCE MADE
ENQUIRIES TO THE
BANK IN GHANA AND WE WERE INFORMED THAT THE MONEY
IS STILL INTACT.
SIR, I NOW RELIGIOUSLY SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN HELPING
ME TRANSFER
THIS FUNDS VIA BANK TRANSFER TO YOUR ACCOUNT THEN HELP
IN INVESTING
THIS FUNDS IN ANY LUCRATIVE BUSINESS OF YOUR CHOICE.
FOR YOUR MUTUAL ASSISTANCE, MYSELF AND MY SISTER HAVE
AGREED TO OFFER
YOU 30% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE MONEY.
WE HAVE ALL THE VITAL DOCUMENTS COVERING THE DEPOSIT
AND THE OWNERSHIP WHICH I CAN SEND TO YOU THROUGH FAX
ON REQUEST. NOTE:PLEASE NEVER DISCLOSED THIS TO ANY
PERSON APART FROM YOU,SO YOU HAVE TO KEEP THIS
TRANSACTION AS A TOP SECRET TO YOURSELF ALONE.WHICH I
WILL WANT YOU TO FORWARD ACROSS TO ME YOUR DIRECT
TEL/FAX NUMBER FOR MORE INFORMATIONS ABOUT THIS
TRANSACTION.
IF YOU AGREE TO HELP US, YOU REPLY TO THIS EMAIL ID: steven_martines07@hotmail.com

BEST REGARDS, .

STEVEN MARTINES.
(FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY).


---------------------------------
No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go
with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started.

Anti-fraud resources: