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: Colin Mathew <colin_mathew24@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: c_mathew4@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:09:50 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: FROM MR COLIN MATHEW


FROM THE DESK OF MR COLIN MATHEW
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
BANK OF SCOTLAND
UNITED KINGDOM
TEL: +447011133420
FAX: +448704783512
CONTACT colin_mathew@myway.com

GOOD DAY.

DEAR FRIEND, YOUR FIRST REACTION TO THIS MAIL WILL BE
TOTAL REJECTION, SCARE AND MAYBE DISBELIEF, OWNING
LARGELY TO THE ATROCITIES SOME PEOPLE COMMIT THESE
DAYS ON THE INTERNET, BUT BELIEVE ME WHAT I’M ABOUT
TO LET YOU KNOW RIGHT NOW IS TRUE AND EXISTING ISSUE.

I AM MR. COLIN MATHEW THE AUDITOR GENERAL OF HALIFAX
BANK OF SCOTLAND UNITED KINGDOM; I WISH TO KNOW IF WE
CAN WORK TOGETHER. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO STAND AS THE
BENEFICIARY TO OUR DECEASED CUSTOMER MR. MORRIS
THOMPSON, WHO MADE SOME DEPOSITS OF (15,000,000.00)
POUNDS STARLINGS. (FIFTEEN MILLION POUNDS STARLINGS)
WITH MY BANK.

YOU CAN VISIT THIS WEB SITE TO CONFIRM MY
INFORMATION'S TO YOU AT ALASKA AIRLINE FLIGHT 261.
HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/2000/US/02/01/ALASKA.AIRLINES.LIST/
HE DIED WITHOUT ANY REGISTERED NEXT OF KIN AND AS
SUCH THE FUNDS NOW HAVE AN OPEN BENEFICIARY MANDATE.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED YOU DO LET ME KNOW SO THAT I
CAN GIVE YOU COMPREHENSIVE DETAILS ON WHAT WE ARE TO
DO FOR THE FUNDS TO BE WIRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT,

BEFORE MY MEETING WITH YOU FOR THE DISBURSEMENT OF
THE FUND IN THE RATIO OF 60% FOR ME AND 40% FOR YOU,
YOUR PRIVATE CONTACT PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS WILL BE
NECESSARY FOR THIS EFFECT, I URGENT HOPE TO GET YOUR
RESPONSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AS TO ENABLE US EXPEDITE
ACTION.

AWAITING YOUR URGENT
YOURS SINCERELY.
MR. COLIN MATHEW



---------------------------------
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Anti-fraud resources: