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: Mercy Addy <mercy.addy54@fbics.net>
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:32:47 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: From Mercy Addy

>From Mercy Addy

My Dear,

Please do not be upset due to the mail I sent to you, also because we have not met before but I know that we do not meet accidentally, rather I meet you by his special grace when I found your profile email address and after praying, I just hand over everything to Gods hand believing that you must be a kind, sincere, faithful and understandable person whom will understand me and assist me in this my current situation.

Let me start by giving you an introduction of my self and my family background. My real name is Miss Mercy Addy. am 22 yrs old, Also I am the only surviving daughter parents.
My mum’s name is Dr. Mrs. Gloria Addy.

My mum died when I was four years old and since then my daddy took me so special. But unfortunately, my daddy was killed last year when he attended a ceremony in the village. He was brutally killed and was shut severally by my uncles on his way back.

But he do not die instantly and was admitted in a private hospital here and Before the death of my father in a private hospital here in Abidjan he secretly called me on his bed side and told me that he has the sum of Three million, seven hundred thousand United State Dollars.USD ($3,700,000.00) left in fixed / suspense account in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan, which he used my name as his only daughter for the next of Kin in depositing of the fund.

He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was shut by his
brothers (my uncles).So my dear I am seeking your assistance in the following ways:

1) To help me transfer this fund to your country because I have discussed with the bank about my intensions to transfer my inheritance abroad which they have accepted.

2) To serve as a guardian of this fund since I am only 22yrs old.

3) To make arrangement for me to come over to your country to further my education and to secure a resident permit in your country.

Moreover, my dear I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum as compensation for your Effort/input after the successful transfer of this fund into your nominated account overseas.

Furthermore, you indicate your options towards assisting me as I believe that this transaction would be concluded within fourteen (14) days you signify interest to assist me.

I am looking forward to your hopeful respond.

Yours Sincerely,

Mercy Addy.


Anti-fraud resources: