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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: bendi richard <bendirichard@gmail.com>
Reply-To: bendirichard@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:24:04 +0800
Subject: Assistance!


Dear Sir,

I Know this way of communication is not the most secured channel to pass a
message of this importance but right now it is the quickest means available
to me, please bear with me.

I am BENDI A/L RICHARD, the personal account officer to the great late
diseased who has an account in one of the top banks here in Malaysia . The
account was opened in 2001 and he died in 2006. Nobody has operated on this
account again hence the money is floating and if I do not remit this money
out urgently it will be reverted to Local Government treasury which I
personally don't want such incident to happen being that this is a great
opportunity for me.
My proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you as next of kin
and beneficiary of the funds so that the funds can be paid to you. The
amount in this account is USD (US$3.2M).

I am only contacting you as a foreigner because this money cannot be
approved to a local person here, but can only be approved to any foreigner
who has the correct information of the account, which I will provide for
you. So you should provide me with your correct account details where you
will like the fund to be transferred to, or you can set up a
new account for the transfer even an empty account is ok.
The process and transfer of the funds to your account will be executed under
a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and me from any breach of the
law. Please contact me at once to indicate your interest via email giving me
direct telephone number for faster communication. When I get your reply, I
will send you a detailed explanation and my full contact information.

I am waiting for your quick reply. However if this business proposal offends
your moral values, do accept my apology.

Best regards,
BENDI A/L RICHARD.

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