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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: garuba mohammed <g_mohammed3@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <garuba_mohammed002@myway.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 08:10:10 +0000
Subject:
=?windows-1256?Q?urgent_Reply_Needed=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD?=
=?windows-1256?Q?=FD=FD=FD=FD=FD?=



FROM : THE DESK OF MR GARUBA MOHAMMED. BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER, BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO WEST AFRICA. RE: TRANSFER OF ($27,500.000.00 USD) (TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.) DEAR FRIEND. THIS SHORT MEMO WOULD CERTAINLY COME TO YOU AS SURPRISE DUE TO THE FACT THAT WE HAVEN’T HAD ANY PREVIOUS CORRESPONDENCE WITH EACH OTHER. INSPITE OF THIS, I WILL APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WILL PERMIT ME TO INFORM YOU OF MY DESIRE TO EXECUTE A BUSINESS WITH YOU WHICH WILL CERTAINLY BE OF A MUTUAL BENEFIT TO BOTH OF US. I WANT TO TRANSFER TO OVERSEAS ($27,500.000.00 USD) TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) FROM THE BANK OF AFRICA, I WANT TO ASK YOU TO PROVIDE AN ACCOUNT OR QUIETLY LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND HONEST PERSON WHO WILL BE CAPABLE AND FIT TO PROVIDE EITHER AN EXISTING BANK ACCOUNT OR TO SET UP A NEW BANK A/C IMMEDIATELY TO RECEIVE THIS MONEY, EVEN AN EMPTY A/C CAN SERVE TO RECEIVE THIS FUNDS QUITELY. I AM MR GARUBA MOHAMMED, THE ACCOUNTANT PERSONAL CONFIDANT TO MR KATTAN SALIF WHO DIED TOGETHER WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN A PLANE CRASH ON THE 1ST OCT. 2003 ON THEIR WAY TO ATTEND WEDDING IN BOSTON. A PHYSICIAN AND INDUSTRIALIST, HE WAS A CONTRACTOR AND HE ENGAGE IN SO MANY BUSSDINESSES IN AFRICA. DIED LAST THREE YEARS WITHOUT HAVING ANY BENEFICIARY TO HIS ASSETS INCLUDING HIS ACCOUNT HERE IN BURKINA FASO WHICH HE OPENED IN A BANK OF AFRICA IN THE YEAR 2003 AS HIS PERSONAL SAVINGS FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXPANSION AND DEVELOPEMENT OF HIS COMPANY BEFORE HIS UNTIMELY DEATH IN 2003 THE AMOUNT INVOLVED IS (USD 27,500,000.00)TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND USD, NO OTHER PERSON KNOWS ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT, I AM CONTACTING YOU FOR US TO TRANSFER THIS FUNDS TO YOUR ACCOUNT AS THE BENEFICIARY, I WANT TO FIRSTTRANSFER ($27,500.000.00) (TWENTY SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.) FROM THIS MONEY INTO A SAFE ACCOUNT ABROAD, AFTER WHICH WE WILL TRANSFER THE REMAINING (20M) BUT I DON'T KNOW ANY FOREIGNER, I AM ONLY CONTACTING YOU AS A FOREIGNER BECAUSE THIS MONEY CAN NOT BE APPROVED TO A LOCAL PERSON HERE WITHOUT VALID INTERNATIONAL FOREIGN PASSPORT, BUT CAN ONLY BE APPROVED TO ANY FOREIGNER WITH VALID INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT OR DRIVERS LICENSE AND FOREIGN A/C BECAUSE THE MONEY IS IN US DOLLARS AND THE FORMER OWNER OF THE A/C LATE MR.RAVINDRA F. SHAH IS A FOREIGNER TOO, AND AS SUCH THE MONEY CAN ONLY BE APPROVED INTO A FOREIGN A/C. HOWEVER,I AM REVEALING THIS TO YOU WITH BELIEVE THAT YOU NOT LET ME DOWN IN THIS BUSINESS, YOU ARE THE FIRST AND THE ONLY PERSON THAT I AM CONTACTING FOR THIS BUSINESS, SO PLEASE REPLY URGENTLY SO THAT I WILL INFORM YOU THE NEXT STEP TO TAKE URGENTLY. SEND ALSO YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER TO FACILITATE EASY AND FAST COMMUNICATION I NEED YOUR FULL CO-OPERATION TO MAKE THIS WORK FINE. BECAUSE THE MANAGEMENT IS READY TO APPROVE THIS MONEY TO ANY FOREIGNER WHO HAS CORRECT INFORMATION OF THIS ACCOUNT, WHICH I WILL GIVE TO YOU, UPON YOUR POSITIVE RESPONSE AND ONCE I AM CONVINCED THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE AND WILL MEET UP WITH INSTRUCTION OF A KEY BANK OFFICIAL WHO IS DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH ME IN THIS BUSINESS. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS BUSINESS, YOU WILL BE GIVEN 30% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT, 60% WILL BE FOR ME AND MY COLEAGUES, WHILE 10% WILL BE FOR EXPENSES BOTH PARTIES MIGHT HAVE INCURRED DURING THE PROCESS OF TRANSFERRING. I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR EARLIEST REPLY . THANKS.GARUBA MOHAMMED.
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