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: "BARR THOMAS MACOLM"<barristerthomasmacolm@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: <barristerthomasmacolmxxxxx@yahoo.co.jp>
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:40:16 +0100
Subject: 1-10-2009

I am Barrister Thomas Marcolm, The Personal Attorney of Sgt. James L.
Montgomery,an American soldier that served in the military with the Us army's 3rd
infantry division before he retired and died in Iraq. My Client deposited
Twenty Two Million United State Dollars only(Us$22M) in a Consignment(Metal
Box) with a Security Company in Europe hoping to claim it after his service
in the Army.I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of
the extended relatives of my client (Late Sgt. James L. Montgomery)which
proved unsuccessful. After several unsuccessful attempts to reach his
family,hence I contacted you.I have contacted you on trust to assist me in
claiming the Consignment he left behind by my client valued Twenty Two Million
United States Dollars($22,000,000.00).

The officials of This security company have issued to me a notice/ultimatum
to provide the next of kin of my client for the claim of his Consignment
within the next 30 days. Since l have been unsuccessful in
locating his relatives over one year,I seek your consent to present you as
the next of kin of the deceased so that the proceeds of his consignment
worth Twenty Two Million United States Dollars)$22,000,000.00) can be claimed
or paid into your personal or company account as his next of kin for our
mutual benefit.

His Source of money: Foreign currency worth nearly Two Hundred Million
United State Dollars($200M) was found in a Baghdad neighborhood, during a
rescue operation in April, 2003 and some part of this money was shared among
Late Sgt. James L. Montgomery and his other army's before informing others
about it.You will find the story of this money on the web address below;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2988455.stm

The sharing percentage is as follow if only you will be faithful and honest
to assist me,45% for your assistance as next of kin,50% to me and remaining
5% should be for expenses or tax as your government may require. All
necessary legal documents that will back up your claim of this money will be
secured in your name with the personal and private information of my late
client in line with the stipulations of the law.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this
deal through. I guarantee you that this business will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the
law.Further more,Kindly furnish me with your following details.

{A}. YOUR FULL NAME.
{B}. YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS.
{C}. YOUR TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBER.

As soon as I receive your details, I will write an application to the
security Company for immediate claim. Please get in touch with me by my email or
call me on my direct phone number TEL/FAX: +447045769598.
Email me to enable us discuss further steps to follow in
the actualization of this Objective.

Best Regards,

Barrister Thomas Marcolm(Esq)

Anti-fraud resources: