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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: (sent from abused email account)
Reply-To: "katz215@yahoo.it" <katz215@yahoo.it>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:37:03 -0400
Subject: CALL: jonathan katz +447045765237


From: Jonathan Katz Jr. Legal Adviser Email: katz216@yahoo.it Call +447045765237 Dear Sir/Ms, Good day, firstly, I must apologize for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail instead of a Certified mail/Post-mail. This is due to the urgency that this E-Letter demands. I am a fifty two (52) years old established lawyer. My name is Jonathan Katz Jr., a legal personal attorney to an expatriate and a consultant with an Australian Oil company, WOODSIDE (Now deceased). He died in the Tsunami disaster on 26th December 2004 while on vacation. Six years ago, my Client successfully executed a contract that was worth A 47.3 Million Euro. A part payment of a 35 Million Euro was paid to my client, while the balance of a 12.3 Million Euro stood unpaid before his sudden death in the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster. Recently, the management of his bank sent a notification letter to me, informing of the existence of the a 12.3 Million Euro claim when they got no response from my client. All my efforts to locate his possible next of kin however proved abortive. Until his sudden demise, he was single. He lost his wife 12 years ago and never remarried. Now the crux of this letter is that by the end of the year the bank will divert all unclaimed bill to the government coffer account. As his personal attorney/Adviser, his bank has officially notified me and instructed me to forward particulars of my client's next of kin within the next 14 official working days so that he/she can be paid the outstanding a 12.3 Million Euro or the funds will be diverted as advised. Following my inability to locate any of his relatives, I decided to contact you for a deal so that we can work together as a team to remit the money to your account as my client “next-of-kin” because I do not want to seat and watch my client hard earned entitlement go into wrong use. I assure you that this is achievable; as a lawyer, I will immediately source the relevant documentation that will perfect the claim all I need from you is your honest co-operation (trust and confidentiality) to enable us see this deal through. As an attorney, I guarantee you that this proposal is with the best of intensions. Upon successful conclusion of this project, you will be compensated with 40% of the total fund, while 60% will be for me. If this is workable, urgently contact with me to give you further clarification on how to proceed next. Sincerely yours, Jonathan Kat Jr. {Legal Adviser} Call +447045765237

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