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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: "ED MARTINS" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <effendi.effendi51@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:17:51 -0000
Subject: Compliments of the Day,

Compliments of the Day,

Dear Sir,

I am Mr. Ed Martins, a staff with Alpha Bank London UK. I decided to reach you directly to solicit your assistance and Guidelines in making a business investment and transfer a huge amount of GBP 15,000,000.00 (Fifteen Million British Pounds Sterling Only). The fund is legitimate and has all confirmable legal documents to back this payment in your name legitimately. Thus, I need to solicit your permission, assistance and support; I propose an offer of 40% of the total amount.

I presently work as an Account Director and in charge with all Offshore Mortgage & Services of our overseas brokers/investors with Alpa Bank London, right now a client's account has been dormant for years,Information from the National Immigration also states that he was single on entrance into the country. I have confidentially discussed this issue with a top official in the bank and we have agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to deal with. It has happened in the past, however, that customers pass away and their heirs can neither prove the death, nor their heir-ship. This was a frequent occurrence during the wartime periods, and the banks have now set up a simple, rapid resolution procedure operating to their customers' advantage. Dormant assets are defined as any assets deposited with a bank (i.e. an account, a custody account or a safety-deposit box) for which there has been no contact with the customer in the bank's files for the last ten years or more.

As at this moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this business until your response is received. Please take out a moment of your very busy Schedule today, to respond back if you are interested. Please send your response and direct telephone numbers via my email, for further explanations on source of funds and details of funds transfer. I wish for utmost confidentiality in handling this transaction. You can write me back with my private email address (effendi.effendi51@gmail.com).

I await your immediate response,
Sincerely Yours,
Mr. Ed Martins.


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