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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: "Michael Shaw"<michaelshaw27@gmail.com>
Reply-To: <michael.shaw27@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:27:36 -0700
Subject: *********I write To You In Confidence***********

My name is Michael Shaw and I write you in confidence, to request your assistance in a private matter concerning my father, Emmanuel Shaw, former Director of Lonestar Communication and Lonestar Airways,Liberia and an associate of the embattled former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. As you may already know,Charles Taylor is held at the International Court of Justice,The Hague for war crimes.By virtue of this, all those who served under him or who were seen to be associated with his government are under a UN sanctioned travel ban with all their assets frozen.My father happens to be one of them.To this effect,he has been unable to access his funds in oversea banks. We have run out of funds in Liberia and must secure funds from elsewhere.
 
Please follow the links below for further info.
 
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/Liberia3/1532_afl.htm
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2005/066.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Shaw
 
For your information, my father was and is still a very rich man by virtue of his involvement with the ousted Liberian Government. Unfortunately, he is unable to access his funds in oversea banks at this point, due to this embargo. However, he has a substantial amount deposited with a confidential holding firm in Europe . For security purposes, I am keeping the details silent for the time being.
 
Due to the restrictions on him, my father mandated me to find a benefactor who will help us secure the funds so that we can have access to it. I am currently holed up in the Calabar West coast of Africa,in a very low keyed existence until the storm blows over. I have all the requisite documents to enable you receive the funds on our behalf legally. The terms of engagement we will discuss as we make progress.
 
Your mandate will be to act as the liaison person to the holding firm as sole beneficiary to the funds, albeit, on our behalf. Rest assured that you will on no account run foul of the law. Let me know if you are willing to assist, otherwise, destroy this email and pardon me for making contact with you.
 
Best regards,
Michael Shaw.

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