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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Miss. Janet Nadu." <degrace5@telegraf.by>
Reply-To: janet_nadu@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:05:05 +0100
Subject: Reply is urgent!!


Hello Dear,

Greetings and compliments of the season. I know you may be wondering who I
am and the reason why am writing you this E-mail. Well, I am Miss Janet.
Nadu, daughter to the Late Chief Omeh Attah Nadu, of Sierra Leone.

My father died March last two years from a heart attack at the age of 68.
He was Gold and Diamond merchant and a polygamist with 2 wives, though his
marriage with his first wife did not produce any kids. My very sick mother
Mrs. Emelda Nadu, who had three kids for him, happens to be the second and
only surviving wife. I live with my mother, my younger brother Eric and my
sister Angela.

What am about to reveal to you is very confidential but it is my life and
that of my family, I strongly believe you will understand and reason with me
so that will shall work together with one mind in completing this
transaction.

Recently, we discovered some documents in my late fathers file indicating a
deposit of $7.5 Million US Dollars, and 20kg of Alluvial Gold dust, which he
deposited in 2004, with a Security Finance company in Accra Ghana West
Africa while he was transacting business with gold companies in Ghana.

But His greedy fetish family members took all my fathers' properties and
establishments, due to the problems amongst my late father's relatives; we
decided to move to Ghana for the safety of our lives. We want to claim the
money and the gold, but we do not know anybody in the security company, and
how to go about it, hence we are appealing to you as a foreigner to kindly
assist us in contacting the security company as our family trustee as we
don't wish to involve local trustees into this matter and not to find out
about the existence of these treasures,so to enable us make the claims from
the security company.

We have all the documents covering the deposits, they include the Certificate
of Deposits and the Depository agreement, which the security company issued
to my late father on the day the deposits, was made. We also have the Death
Certificate of my late father. We kept these documents in custody of the
Catholic Church where we worship here in Ghana for safe keeping. Note that
we can send you these documents only after we have reached an agreement with
you. We would not like to make any mistakes because of its confidential
nature.

On hearing from you, I will send to you contacts of the Security Finance
company, which is on their letter headed papers, to enable you contact them
as our family trustee to ascertain the existence of these deposits, so that
we can make the claims immediately.

Please let us know your wish.

Best Regards,
Miss. Janet Nadu.

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