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: Robert Anann <robert_anann88@yahoo.ca>
Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2007 19:04:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: from robert my late father


DEAR SIR,

FIRST AND FOREMOST,I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS
TRANSACTION AND I PRAY THAT MY DECISION TOCONTACT YOU WILL BE GIVEN
GENUINE APPROVAL CONSIDERING THE FACTS WE HAVE NOT KNOWN EACH OTHER BEFORE,
I WISH TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU.
I AM robert anann FROM ZIMBABWE, WEST AFRICA. I WRITES TO INFORM YOU
MY DESIRE TO INVEST, AND TO BUY A LIVING HOUSE IN YOUR COUNTRY. I AM THE
FIRST SON OF MR kofi anann HE WAS THE RICHEST WHITE FARMER IN MY
COUNTRY.MY FATHER HAD A BULLET SHOT BY BLACK SQUATTERS WHO CAME TO OUR
FARM HOUSE IN HARARE DISGUISING THEMSELVES
AS GORVERNMENT OFFICIALS. SEE THIS LINK TO GET ALL FURTHER INFORMATIONS
REGARDING HIS DEATH:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/04/15/zimbabwe.land.03/

AFTER THE DEATH OF MY FATHER WE RECEIVED THREATS THAT WE SHOULD LEAVE
THE COUNTRY, SO WHILE CHECKING MY FATHERS DOCUMENTS I DISCOVERED HE
DEPOSITED MONEY IN ASECURITY COMPANY; THE SUM OF $19.8 MILLION USD (NINETEEN
MILLION, EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) PRESENTLY MYSELF AND MY YOUNGER SISTER ARE HERE IN GHANA
AND WE ARE STAYING IN A HOTEL HERE. THEREFORE I WANT YOU TO LECTURE ME ON HOW BEST WE CAN INVEST
THIS MONEY, BECAUSE MY FATHER TOLD ME THAT IT IS DANGEROUS TO INVEST THIS MONEY IN AFRICA TO
AVOID SUSPICIONS, AND DUE TO MARKET INSTABILITY COUPLED WITH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY
FACING AFRICAN COUNTRIES, THAT IS WHY WE WANT TO INVEST IN ABROAD.WE HAVE SINCE MADE ENQUIRIES TO
THE SECURITY COMPANY IN GHANA AND WE WERE INFORMED THAT THE MONEY IS STILL INTACT.
SIR, I NOW RELIGIOUSLY SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN HELPING ME TRANSFER THIS
FUNDS VIA BANK TRANSFER TO YOUR ACCOUNT THEN HELP IN INVESTING THIS
FUNDS IN ANY LUCRATIVE BUSINESS OF YOUR CHOICE.

FOR YOUR MUTUAL ASSISTANCE, MYSELF AND MY SISTER HAVE AGREED TO OFFER
YOU 30% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE MONEY.
WE HAVE ALL THEVITAL DOCUMENTS COVERING THE DEPOSIT AND THE OWNERSHIP
WHICH I CAN SEND TO YOU THROUGH FAX ON REQUEST. NOTE: PLEASE NEVER
DISCLOSED THIS TO ANY PERSON APART FROM YOU,SO YOU HAVE TO KEEP THIS
TRANSACTION AS A TOP SECRET TO YOURSELF ALONE.WHICH I WILL WANT YOU TO
FORWARD ACROSS TO ME YOUR DIRECT TEL/FAX NUMBER FOR MORE INFORMATIONS
ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION. CONTACT THORUGH MY PRIVATE EMAIL
BEST REGARDS,

robert anann
robert_anann@yahoo.co.uk

---------------------------------
Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail

Anti-fraud resources: