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: BARRISTER MICHAEL K. BROWN <officialmailbox05@emsergipe.com>
Reply-To: michaelkingbrown1955@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:26:53 -0300
Subject: Hello dear.

Dear Good Friend,Firstly, this is not to cause you embarrassment, I am Barrister Michael K==2EBrown, I was the Personal Attorney and legal adviser to late Mr. Mark =(untill his death) a National of your country, who used to be a private c=ontractor with the Shell Petroleum Development Company in Saudi Arabia.On= the 4th of April 2005, he and his wife with their three children were in=volved in an auto crash,all occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost =their lives.Since then, I have made several enquiries with his country embassies to l=ocate any of his extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. A=fter these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you with t=his proposal.I am contacting you to assist in repatriating this huge amount of money l=eft behind by my client before the Bank get it confiscated or declared un=serviceable by the BANK/INSTITUTION where these huge deposit is lodged.The deceased had a deposit presently valued =A35.9 million British pounds=(USD$11.8 million) which I am aware of and the BANK has issued to me,As h=is persoanl attorney a notice to provide his next of kin or Beneficiary b=y WILL otherwise have the account confiscated within the next thirty offi=cial working days.Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over one yea=r,I therefore seek your consent to present you as the next of kin / WILL =Beneficiary to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued a=t USD$11.8 million can be paid to you.Don't worry how this is going to be done.But If you give me your willines=s to do this with me,Then i will now present you to the bank as the next =of Kin to my late client and then,the proceedings for the transfer will c=ommence.This will be disbursed or shared in these percentages, 55% for me 30% to =you,10% for charity organizations while the balance 5% will be set aside =for any expences.All I require is your honest Co-operation, Confidentiality and Trust to e=nable us see this transaction through.I guarantee you that this will be e=xecuted under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any bre=ach of the law.(100% risk free).I am presently in London and I ask for your cooperation to provide me the= following information: Your urgent response will be highly anticipated a=nd appreciated.Thanks and have a nice day,As i await your immediate response.Best Regards,BARRISTER MICHAEL KING BROWN

Anti-fraud resources: