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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: Johnson Dick <vit415win@msn.com>
Reply-To: <johnsonregard1@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:37:04 +0000
Subject: Best Regards



Dear Friend,

Please accept my sincere apologizes if my email does not meet your business or personal ethics. I will first introduce myself as Mr. Johnson Dick, a staff in the Private Clients Section of a well-known bank, here in South Africa.

One of our accounts, with holding balance of ($26,500.000 USD) has been dormant and last operated 2003. From my investigations, the owner of the said account, a foreigner by name Dr. George W. Brimley died on the 18th July 2003 in a plane crash for details on the crash you can view this website (http://www.sptimes.com/2003/07/21/Worldandnation/12_Americans_die_in_K.shtml) for details on the tragic crash.

Since then, nobody has done anything as regards the claiming of this money on further investigation, I found out that he died without making a WILL and all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Dr. George Brumley did not declare any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.

Consequently, my proposal is that I want to seek your consent as a foreigner to stand in as the owner of the money as the next of kin to the deceased so that the bank will transfer the money to your designated account. All documents and proves to enable you get this fund will be carefully worked out.

This transaction is totally risk free of as the fund is legitimate and does not originate from drug, money laundry, terrorism or any other illegal act. I am waiting to hear from you

Best Regards,
Mr. Johnson Dick.

Anti-fraud resources: