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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: "abu john" <abu_john8@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:11:53 +0200
Subject: URGENT TRANSFER

FROM: ABU JOHN

SOUTH AFRICA

EMAIL/abu_john1@hotmail.com

TELL/ +27-73-9382694
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
ATTN: C\E\O

This mail may come to you as a surprise but plead with you to patiently read
through it before making a decision whether to assist me or not. l wish to
solicit for your assistance in the transaction which l strongly believe will
be of mutual benefit to both of us. My name is MR. ABU JOHN . the branch
manager of Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, Johannesburg Branch and
two of my colleagues wish to seek your assistance in the transfer of the sum
of USD20,000,000.00 (TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLAR) into a foreign bank
account.

This money was deposited in a fixed deposit account in the bank by a German
national, six years ago. The length of time for the maturity of the fixed
deposit was five years which expired towards the ending of last year.
Incidentally, Mr. Peter Foster, who was the beneficiary died two years ago
and he left no body to claim this money.

All modalities for the successful transfer of this money into an offshore
bank account have been put in place and we are looking for a trust worthy
foreign partner into whose bank account this fund would be remitted to and
it is this regard that my colleagues have mandated me to provide a partner
who will assist us. We have agreed to compensate you with 25% of the total
amount if you should accept to assist us. lf you are interested in giving us
the required assistance, kindly reply this mail stating your bank accounts
and Telephone/Fax numbers for further action.

Because of the secrecy surrounding this transaction, l suggest that you
contact me only through e-mail and my telephone:, until further notice. l am
looking forward to a favorable reply from you soon. Feel free to ask any
question in this regard.
l remain,
Yours Faithfully,
MR. ABU JOHN

_________________________________________________________________
Live Earth on the 7th July 2007, get concert updates and more on MSN!
http://liveearthsos.msn.com/Hub.aspx?mkt=en-za


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