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: Albert Butler <albert.butler.017@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <albertbutler3@hotmail.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:52:53 -0700
Subject: Greetings.








Attn:Scott Henderson,

This is a personal email directed to you and I
request that it should be treated as such.I am albertbutler,a solicitor at
law.

I am the personal attorney/sole executor to the late Mr Mark Henderson, who died in a car crash with his immediate family on the 5th of Nov
2000. Since , the death of my client in Nov, 2000, I have written several
letters to the embassy with an intent to locate any of his extended relatives
whom shall be claimants/beneficiaries of his abandoned personal estate and all
such efforts have been to no avail.Moreso, I have received official letters in
the last few weeks suggesting a likely proceeding for confiscation of his
abandoned personal assets in line with existing laws by the bank in which my
client deposited the sum of 9.8m GBP.The board of directors of the company now
adopted a resolution and I was mandated to provide his next of kin for the
payment of this money within the next 15 offficial working days or forfeit the
money as an abandoned fund.The company had planned to invoke the abandoned
property decree of 1996 to confiscate the funds after the expiration of the
period given to me but after an investigation in the finance company,I found out
that some members of the company wants to divert this fund into their private
accounts for their own selfish interest and only want,to use the excuse that
since I am not able to look for some one to make the claim,the money should be
made unserviceable and that means submmitting the fund to the federal government
of this country and some to the company management which is not their main
intentions.

By virtue of my closeness to the deceased and his immediate
family,I am very much aware of my client's financial standing.I do sincerely
sympartize the death of my client,but had thought it unprofitable for his funds
to be submited to the federal government of this country and the finance company
where it is lodged.I have reasoned very professionally and I feel it will be
legally proper to present you as the next of kin of my deceased client which is
legally possible and would be done in accordance with the laws of the land.On
this note I decided to search for a credible person and finding that you bear a
similar last name, I was urged to contact you, that I may, with your consent,
present you to the "trustee" bank as my late client's surviving family member so
as to enable you put up a claim to the bank in that capacity as a next of kin of
my client,so that the proceeds of This Bank Account valued at Nine Million Eight
Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling only(9.8million ) can be paid to
you,before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable to the bank where this
huge deposit is lodged.Note that this is legal,and 100% risk free since I have
all vitial documents that would be requested by them and that would confer you
the legal right to make this claim. I find this possible for the main reason
that you bear a similar last name with my client making it a lot easier for you
to put up a claim in that capacity.Therefore, to facilitate the immediate
reprofiling of this fund, you need, first to contact me via my alternative email
address signifying your interest and as soon as I obtain your confidence, I will
immediately intimate you with the complete details as well as fax you the
documents, with which you are to proceed and I shall direct on how to put up an
application to the bank.

HOWEVER, you will have to assent to an express
agreement which I will forward to you in order to bind us in this
transaction.Upon the reciept of your reply,I will send you by fax or E-mail the
next step to take.I will not fail to bring to your notice that this proposal is
hitch-free and that you should not entertain any fears as the required
arrangements have been made for the completion of this transfer.I guarantee that
this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any breach of the law. Please get in touch with me through my alternative email
albertbutler3@hotmail.co.uk for better
confidentiality and send to me your telephone and fax numbers to enable us
discuss further about this transaction. Like I said, I require only a solemn
confidentiality on this.Please let me have your opinion as soon as possible for
My contact number is +447534766436,and If this proposal is acceptable by you, do
not take undue advantage of the trust I have bestowed in you,I await your urgent
response.

Give me a call at your earliest
convienience.

Sincererly,
Albert Butler(Esq).
+447534766436
_________________________________________________________________
In a rush? Get real-time answers with Windows Live Messenger.
http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_realtime_042008

Anti-fraud resources: