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: "Advocate Patrick Joop" <advocatejoop2008@aim.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:19:01 GMT
Subject: Dear Friend


Dear Friend
Greetings and compliments.
=20
I am Patrick Joop , a solicitor at law. I was
the personal attorney to Eng. Gilbert M.Reain, a national of your country =
who used to work with an oil servicing company here in the Netherlands =
thereof be referred to as my client.=20
=20
Eng. Gilbert M. Reain, 62 years of age made a fixed deposit of fund valued =
at USD=2412,500,000 (Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States =
Dollars Only) with a Finance Company here in Europe and unfortunately lost =
his life in an Egyptian charter plane Boeing 737 which crashed into the =
Red Sea early on January 3 shortly after taking off from the resort
of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all the 135 passengers and 13 crew members =
aboard, Ref: =
(View:http://english.people.com.cn/200401/04/eng20040104_131791.shtml).
He left no clear beneficiary as Next of Kin except some vital documents =
related to the deposit still in my possession.
=20
Recently, the governing body of the Finance Company contacted me on this =
matter, requesting that I should notify the next of kin of my late client =
to claim the
funds and I am yet to provide the Next of Kin to lay claims to the Fund. I =
know that my client had no living next of kin but I went ahead and made =
several
inquiries to your embassy to locate any of my late client's extended =
relatives but this has proved unsuccessful. Under a clear and legitimate =
agreement
with you, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin, so that =
my late client's fund will not be confiscated by the Finance Company.
=20
You and I can share the money, you will be entitled to 40% of the total =
fund for your role as the relative and next of kin of my late client, 50% =
for me while 10% is to be marked out for any expenses that will be
incurred during the clearance or process of transfer of the fund to your =
bank account. Be informed that there is no risk involved as all necessary =
legal documents that will be used to back you up as the legal beneficiary =
and next of kin of my late client will be procured.
=20
All I require is your sincerity, honesty, co-operation and utmost good =
faith to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be =
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any breach of the law. Kindly, get in touch with me by my =
e-mail(advocatejoop2008=40aim.com) or telephone to enable us discuss =
further. You may also send your telephone number so that I can call you.
Do not forget that a transaction of this magnitude requires utmost =
confidentiality and sincerity. I look forward to your urgent response.
=20
Thank you,
Patrick Joop
+31 647 283 937 =

Anti-fraud resources: