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: "=?iso-8859-1?q?mrs=20edward?=" <mrs_edward1@orangemail.es>
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:59:21 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: DEAR BELOVED IN CHRIST


DEAR BELOVED IN CHRIST

IT IS BY THE GRACE OF GOD THAT I RECEIVED CHRIST,KNOWING THE TRUTH AND =
THE TRUTH HAVE SET ME FREE.HAVING KNOWN THE TRUTH I HAD NO CHOICE THAN =
TO DO WHAT IS LAWFUL AND RIGHT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD FOR ETERNAL LIFE AND=
IN THE SIGHT OF MAN FOR WITNESS OF GOD=B4S MERCY AND GLORY UPON MY LIF=
E. I AM MRS JULIET EDWARD FROM GHANA.I AM MARRIED TO DR.FRANK EDWARD WH=
O WORKED WITH CHEVRON/TEXACO IN EGYPT FOR TWENTY YEARS BEFORE HE DIED I=
N THE YEAR 2002.WE WERE MARRIED FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS WITHOUT A CHILD,=
HE DIED DURING ONE OF THE RIOTS IN THE EGYPT .HE WAS HELD HOSTAGE AND =
SLAIN TO DEATH BY PROTESTING YOUTHS OF THE REGION IN EDO STATE BEFORE H=
IS DEATH WE WERE BOTH BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS.
SINCE HIS DEATH I DECIDED NOT TO RE-MARRY.WHEN MY LATE HUSBAND WAS ALIV=
E HE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF (US3M)(THREE MILLION US.DOLLARS) WITH A BANK =
IN THE NIGERIA AND NOW THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BANK HAVE JUST WROTE ME TO=
COME FORWARD TO RECEIVE THE MONEY OR RATHER ISSUE A LETTER OF AUTHORIS=
ATION TO SOMEBODY TO RECEIVE IT ON MY BEHALF IF I CAN NOT COME OVER.I A=
M PRESENTLY WITH MY LAPTOP IN A HOSPITAL WHERE I HAVE BEEN UNDERGOING T=
REATMENT FOR CANCER OF THE LUNGS, I HAVE SINCE LOST MY ABILITY TO TALK =
AND MY DOCTORS HAVE TOLD ME THAT I HAVE ONLY A FEW MONTHS TO LIVE.IT IS=
MY LAST WISH TO SEE THAT THIS MONEY IS INVESTED AND AT THE END OF EVER=
Y YEAR DISTRIBUTED AMONG CHARITY ORGANISATION. AND FOR YOUR COMPESATION=
, AS SOON AS THE MONEY ENTERS YOUR ACCOUNT TAKE 25% OF THE TOTAL MONEY,=
5% FOR ANY EXPENSES WHILE 70% WILL BE FOR THE WORK OF GOD.
I TOOK THIS DECISION BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE ARE ALOT OF POOR PEOPLE =
SUFFERING FROM DIFFERENT KIND OF DISEASE AND NOBODY TO COME TO THEIR AI=
D.WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. AS SOON AS I RECEIVE YOUR REPLY I S=
HALL GIVE YOU THE CONTACT OF THE BANK IN NIGERIA WERE THE MONEY IS BEEN=
DEPOSIT .I WILL ALSO ISSUE YOU A LETTER OF AUTHORITY AND CERTIFICATE O=
F CLAIM THAT WILL PROVE YOU AS THE NEW BENEFICIARY OF THIS FUND. GET BA=
CK TO ME AT (mailer_juliet_edward1@yahoo.com).
PLEASE ASSURE ME THAT YOU WILL ACT ACCORDINGLY AS I STATED HERE AND ALS=
O KINDLY INDICATE YOUR INTERESET BY GIVING ME YOUR CONTACT DETAILS SUCH=
AS: (FULL NAME, CONTACT ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER) SO THAT I CAN FO=
RWARD IT TO THE BANK ON YOUR BEHALF AND THE WE ESTABLTSH CONTACT WITH Y=
OU IMMEDIATELY FOR THE CLAIM.
YOU CAN REACH ME ON MY PRIVATE EMAIL: (mailer_juliet_edward1@yahoo.com)=

Anti-fraud resources: