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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: Patrick Bello <patrickbello47@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <patrick_bello@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2007 11:34:17 +0000
Subject: FROM PATRICK BELLO



FROM PATRICK BELLO MINISTER OF OIL AND EXECUTIVE HEAD, CONTRACT AWARD COMMITTEE, DEAR MR/MRS I CONTACTED PROMINENT FINANCE AND EMPLOYMENT BUREAU SITE TO FIND OUT TRUST WORTHY INDIVIDUAL EVERY MONTH AND GOT YOUR NAME ENLISTED SO I AM CONTACTING WITH TRUST AND AS THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS MOVED ME AFTER FERVENT PRAYERS. FIRST OF ALL THERE IS A DEAL WHICH YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN TO GENERATE EXTRA FUNDS FOR OIL DEALS AND PURCHASE BECAUSE IN OUR COUNTRY NIGERIA IT IS BIG BUSINESS AND YOU WILL GAIN BILLIONS LEGALLY IN LESS THAN A YEAR ALSO ITS A SOURCE OF TAX FREE SELF EMPLOYMENT. MY NAME IS PATRICK BELLO THE MINISTER OF OIL AND EXECUTIVE HEAD OF THE CONTRACT AWARD COMMITTEE OF NIGERIA NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (N.N.P.C).IT IS MY PROFOUND INTENTION TO CONTACT YOU FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT AND HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTION FOR THE TRANSFER OF $17.5M USD INTO YOUR ACCOUNT .THE $17.5M USD WAS THE OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE FROM THE CONTRACTS AWARDED TO BOTH FOREIGN AND LOCAL CONTRACTORS. THE REAL CONTRACT VALUE WAS $170 MILLION DOLLARS BUT IT WAS OVER ESTIMATED TO $187.5m MILLION DOLLARS. THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULY EXECUTED BY THE CONTRACTORS AND THEIR CONTRACT SUM ($170M) HAS BEEN PAID TO THEM, LEAVING OUR OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE STILL PENDING AT THE BANK. AWAITING DIRECTIVE FROM THE COMMITEE ON WHAT TO DO WITH THE FUND,WHICH POWER IS ON MY DESK. RIGHT NOW,WE ARE LEFT WITH THIS OVER ESTIMATED BALANCE($17.5M) WHICH IS STILL FLOATING AT THE PAYING BANK AWAITING FINAL PAYMENT TO ANY RELIABLE FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT YOU MAY PROVIDE. I AM THEREFORE ASKING YOU TO CO-OPERATE WITH ME SO THAT THE FUND WILL BE RELEASED AND TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. PLEASE OBSERVE THIS INSTRUCTION RELIGIOUSLY.I SEND YOU THIS EMAIL NOT WITHOUT A MEASURE OF FEAR AS TO WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES MAY BE,BUT I KNOW WITHIN ME THAT NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED AND THAT SUCCESS AND RICHES NEVER COME EASY OR ON A PLATTER OF GOLD. IF THIS PROPOSAL IS ACCEPTABLE BY YOU,DO NOT TAKE UNDUE ADVANTAGE OF THE TRUST I BESTOWED IN. REVERT BACK WITH YOUR FULLNAMEADDRESSAGEOCCUPATIONCOMPANY NAMETELEPHONE NUMBER TO ENABLE ME PROCURE THE DOCUMENT AND FORWARD TO THE PAYING BANK FOR ONWARD REMMITTANCE OF THE SAID FUND.I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY. WARMEST REGARDS, OFFICER PATRICK BELLO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CONTRACT AWARD COMMITEE.
_________________________________________________________________
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