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"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: "Paul Rickey" <paul879@ig.com.br>
Reply-To: paul.rickey@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 01:05:59 +0100
Subject: From Paul


Paul Ricky & Associate
Barr Paul Ricky (Esq.)
Tell#:+447045776656
Fax #:+448704789784
Confidential Email account: paul.rickey@yahoo.com.hk

Hello,

It is with a Heavy Heart that I am reaching you regarding the death of my
late client.
I am Paul Ricky, the legal adviser to late MR. MIKE & CAROL HALL, a Very
Wealthy Couple that
Lived here in the United Kingdom, before their recent Death on the 26th of
December during
Tsunami disaster in the year (2004).
Below is the webpage of the deceased.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4153821.stm

This couple as instructed by MR.MIKE HALL before his death, Deposited Box
with a security company That contains as a matter of fact the sum of
US$10,000,000.00, which the security company Ignorant of the original
content of the box.
They did not want the management of the Security Company to know the
contents of the Consignment therefore they registered the content of the
consignments as Gold Bars. Now, the
security company believes that what they deposited with them were Gold Bars.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives now I seek your
consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased. I will furnish
you with the whole procedures to ensure that the is successfully concluded,
for your assistance to me I have agreed to give you thirty five percent
(35%) of the total sum at end of the transaction.
I will have to put the necessary legal documents that can be used to backup
any claim we may
make. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable this deal go
through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Surely, you must have some questions or may be you just need further
clarification. I will be
happy to receive your mail, this will enable me explain further what the
next step is and the
general plan. I will also need your most confidential telephone number and
fax number, if you
have a mobile phone I believe it will help so that we can reach you anytime.

You can write to my Confidential Email account: paul.rickey@yahoo.com.hk

Call me on +447045776656

Please try and get back to me

Yours truly

Barr. Paul Ricky (Esq.)

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