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: Tim Hamilton <luzio_mii@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: timhamiltonlaws707@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:17:15 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hope to hear from you soon


Hello,

I write to seek your co-operation and assistance in this project. I am Mr.Tim Hamilton, A lawyer. I am the personal attorney to Mr. Neal Walker, An American, who was a businessman.

On the 31st of Oct 1999, he lost his life in a plane crash. My client deposited as family belongings in the sum of $30 Million USD here in London with the hope of transferring it to his country as soon as his contract expires. Since his death I have made several inquiries to his embassy to locate any of his extended relatives, but this attempt so far has been unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to look for a foreigner who will be willing to help claim this fund, hence I contacted you. The intention right now is for you to stand in as his Next of Kin to get this funds released to you.

This becomes imperative as the bank has just given me a deadline to provide one, or the money will be declared dormant in accordance with the bank's policy. I will provide all legal documents to back up your claim as the beneficiary to this fund and your help will be appreciated with 30% of the total sum.

All I require is your honest co-operation and I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please accept my apologies, keep my confidence and disregard this email if you do not appreciate this proposition I have offered you.

However, if you wish to help me actualise this, do get back with me so I will let you know what is required of you.

Best Regards,
Tim Hamilton.


---------------------------------
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

Anti-fraud resources: