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: "Ibrahim Hamza" <ibrahim_hamza@undp.org> (may be fake)
Reply-To: ibra_hamza@hotmail.fr
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2008 13:58:01 +0000
Subject: Assallamalaikum

Dear Friend,
Assallamalaikum,
I am Ibrahim Rahman Hamza, a legal practitioner in Senegal with many
years of practice.I was an attorney to a deceased client of mine who
died in Dakar, Senegal of a heart related condition in 2001. My
reason of sending you this email is to help secure the funds left behind by my
client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where this fund valued at $5.7 million dollars was deposited.
Since you do have the same surname with my late client, I would want to present you as the legitimate beneficiary with all legal documents required to back the claim up.
The holding bank has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin, or the account will be confiscated, and so far, all my efforts to get hold of someone related to this man has proved abortive.
This is my proposal; I am asking for your consent to present you to the bank as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my late client, since you have the same last name, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Then we can share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon percentage.
I do have a good standing in here in Senegal, it is my assurance that this transaction will be successful and that I will make sure that the transaction is done within the applicable laws to guarantee full
legitimacy.
All legal documents to back up your claim as my client's next-of-kin will be provided by me. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.
This will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. However, if this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my apology.
Please contact me at once to indicate your interest. Do understand that this transaction do require utmost confidence and you should keep this mail to yourself not withstanding if you are rejecting the transaction or accepting it.
Note that I reserve the right to reject your acceptance of this proposal if I have reasons to believe that you may not be honest or discreet as it concerns this proposal.
Further details will be giving as soon as your interest is indicated.
reply ibra_hamza@hotmail.fr <mailto:ibra_hamza@hotmail.fr>
Yours Sincerely,
Ibrahim Hamza



Anti-fraud resources: