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: Mr Tom Bello <ttombello_000@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: mrtom_private003@yahoo.com
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 22:44:34 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Dear Friend,


Dear Friend,
I am Mr. Tom Bello, Bank Manager of Owena bank ltd, Lagos, Branch. I got your contact from the world trade center (WTC) Regional office in Lagos, Nigeria. Although the details of my intention were not made known to them. Actually, I listed your name among four other names and prayed over them and decided to contact you directly. I have an urgent & confidential business proposition for you and for our overall mutual interest.
On June 6 1997,an American oil consultant/contractor with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Mr. Barry Kelly made a numbered time(fixed) deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at USD$5,000,000.00( Five million dollars) in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarded address but got no reply. After a month we sent a reminder, and finally we discovered from his contract employers NNPC, that Mr. Barry died in an automobile accident. On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a WILL and all attempts to trace his next-of-kin were fruitless. I therefore made further investigation & discovered that Mr. Barry did not declare any next of kin in all his official documents, including his bank deposit paperwork.
This sum USD$5,000,000.00 is still floating in the bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year, no one will come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Laws at the expiration of 7 years, the money will revert to the ownership of the Nigerian government If nobody applies to claim the funds. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand in as a next of kin of Mr. Barry Kelly. This is simple:
(1) I will like you to provide me immediately with your full names & address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary documents & Affidavits,which will put you as next of kin.
(2) We shall employ the services of two attorneys for drafting & notarization of the WILL and obtain the necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favour for the transfer. The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 60% for me and 40% for you. There is no risk at all, since the attorney and my position will do the paperwork for this transaction as the branch manager guarantees the successful execution of this transaction.
If you are interested, please reply immediately this private email address (mrtom_private001@yahoo.com) upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant documents that will help you understand.
PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY, and be rest assured that this would be most profitable for both of us, because I shall require your assistance to invest my share in your country.

Awaiting your urgent reply to this email above, please save me the anxiety of endless waiting.
God bless you.
Mr.Tom Bello,
Owena Bank Plc.
Please reply to this my private email account;(mrtom_private001@yahoo.com)


---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail : Stockage illimité et Messenger intégré. Changez aujourd'hui de mail !

---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail : Stockage illimité et Messenger intégré. Changez aujourd'hui de mail !

Anti-fraud resources: