joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: Mariam Abacha <mariam.abacha_11@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 14:19:34 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL



Dear Sir/ Madam,

Please kindly Contact me on confidential email; mariam.abacha_11@yahoo..co.uk
In recent times over the radio in AMERICA ;EUROPE or even in ASIA you must have heard about my family regarding huge sums of money stacked in foreign  banks in different names for business. I believe, is a legacy we came to  meet, when my late Husband became the head of state. It does not matter  whether you are small or big but your ability to help me sort out  things is mostly needed now. I do not justify myself but it has happened, so  i need you to help me and my family survive in life. Thus it is with  hope that I write to  seek your help in the context below.

 I am Hajia Mariam Abacha, wife of Nigeria 's former head of state; Late  General Sani Abacha, whose sudden death occurred on the 8th of June 1998. Since my husband died, I have been thrown into a state of utter  confusion, frustration and hopelessness by the present civilian administration.

The security agents in the country have subjected me to physical and psychological torture. My son (Mohammed Abacha) is still under detention arraigned before the federal high court of Nigeria for an offence he did not commit.. As a widow that has been traumatized, I am hopeless with my present faith.. You must have heard over the media reports on the recovery of various sums of money deposited by  my late husband with
various security firms. Some companies willingly gave up their secret and disclosed our money confidently lodged there, or many, outright blackmail.

Infact the total sum discovered by the government so far is in the tune of $700 to $600 Million USD and they are not relenting to make me poor for life. I came in contact with your name and address through my personal research and would want to have faith and confidence in you as I view you to be of responsible personality. I have no doubt about your capacity and goodwill to assist me in receiving into your custody (for safety) the sum of $70.3 Million USD willed and deposited safely in my favour by my late husband. This money is currently kept in Safe Deposit Box (SDB) at a security firm within Europe .

The investigative teams set up by my government have submitted their  report after freezing almost all our account.Fortunately, our family lawyer had secretly protected the personal will of my husband from the notice of the investigators and have strictly advised that the$70.3m USD be urgently moved to an overseas account of any trust worthy but
ANNONYMOUS foreign family friend without delay, for security reasons.All our traveling papers have been seized by the government thereby preventing us from traveling and all the local and international outfit of our business empire seized.

This sum of money is our only hope to stay alive. I have therefore agreed to compensate your good self with 30% of the total deposit only when you recieve the deposit box from the security firm and its contents safely lodged in your account. They have equally guaranteed 100% risk-free and smooth transfer. If you are interested in assisting
me, please reach me immediately and send to me your confidential telephone and fax number(s) so that I or my son Mustapha can reach you as soon as possible.

For obvious security reasons, it is imperative that you keep all our communication very secret. Do not mention my family’s name or disclose the transaction to anybody. If you are not interested in assisting me, please still get in touch so that I can make alternative arrangement as time is of the essence. Please do not expose me to my government.

You can browse on the links below for more information concerning my family's predicament.
Please kindly Contact me on confidential email ;  mariam.abacha_11@yahoo.co.uk

Thank You  

Mrs Mariam Abacha.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/109265.stm
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9806/08/abacha.update/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3333557.stm



Anti-fraud resources: