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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: =?iso-8859-1?Q?BOWLINGOV=DD_TURNAJ?= <dr.anthonybarnes@boe.com>
Reply-To: dr.anthonybarnes2008@live.com
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:42:15 +0200
Subject: BUSINESS TRANSACTION (NEXT OF KIN REQUIRED URGENTLY)

BANK OF ENGLAND PLC.
1 CHURCHILL PLACE FREEPOST RTLA-CSUE-TCHC
LONDON E14 5HP UK.
FROM THE DESK OF: DR. ANTHONY BARNES

Dear Partner,

Before proceeding, I wish to introduce myself to you; I am Dr Anthony Barnes (Mr.) a staff of Bank of England plc London. I hold a strategic position in the accounts/foreign exchange department. I am pleased to get across to you for a very urgent and profitable business proposal which I believe will profit us after completion. I contacted you believing you might be capable of handling this business transaction.

The sum of (Twelve million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds), has been floating as unclaimed since 2000 in my bank as all efforts to get across to the relatives of our client who deposited the money yielded no result. All attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. My position here at my office requires me to investigate and I therefore made further investigations and discovered that Mr. Andreas Schranner did not declare any next of kin or relation in all his official documents, including his bank deposit paperwork in my bank.

I have decided to seek your assistance to have you stand as his next of kin so that the said fund (Twelve million Five Hundred Thousand Pounds), be released in your name as the next of kin and paid into your account. All documents and proof that will have you claim! This fund without stress will be forwarded to you upon your response to this mail I have unanimously agreed to offer you (four million pounds) of the total sum for the assistance and role you are going to play in this transaction, (Two million pounds) will be given to charity organizations in your country with your supervision.

Please send your response containing your name, address, telephone/mobile number, occupation and age.Reply to my e-mail:dr.anthonybarnes2008@live.com for
further details.


Again I want to categorically state to you that this is legitimate. As I said you will take 30% from the total amount, the funds are in Pound sterling. Now I need to know more about you, what do you do for a living? If you can handle this funds? Can I trust you? Trust is very important for this transaction. Once I receive answers to these, I will send you a copy of my identification to enable you know who you are dealing with.

Please it is very important I know who I am dealing with. This business is hitch free so do not worry about getting into trouble, there is no risk involved at all. I have done my home work, everything can be concluded within two to three banking days, and the bank will have to release the funds to you, I have the file of the Client here with me, that we will use to support the claim.

We need to move fast. Once I get a positive response from you, I will send you the Application Release Letter and the banks contact details, so that you can send the letter to them by email. So that they can release the funds to us.

Kind Regards,

Dr. Anthony Barnes
e-mail:dr.anthonybarnes2008@live.com

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