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: "Mr.Maxwell Tambo" <maxwelltambo3@live.co.za>
Reply-To: maxwelltambo22@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:48:59 -0500
Subject: US$50 Million Dollars Transaction/Reply Me Immediately

Dear,

I am Mr. Maxwell Tambo, Bank Manager of a Reputable bank in Pretoria,
Province, Republic of South Africa. I have an urgent and very
confidential business proposition for you. On Feb. 27, 2001, a British
Contractor with the South African Mining Corporation, (Name deliberately
with held) made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar
months, valued at US$50,000,000.00 (Ffity Million Dollars) in my branch.
Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but
got no reply.

After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his
contract employers, the South African Mining Corporation, that the
depositor died from an automobile accident. On further investigation, I
found out that he died without making a WILL and all attempts to trace his
next of kin was fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and
discovered that the depositor did not declare any next of kin or relations
in all his official documents,US$50,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank
and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of
each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. According to Laws of
Republic of South Africa, at the expiration of 10(Ten) years, the money
will revert to the ownership of the South African Government if nobody
applies to claim the fund. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like
you as a foreigner to stand in as THE NEXT OF KIN to the depositor so that
the fruits of this old man's labo ur will not get into the hands of some
corrupt government officials.

A bank account in any part of the world that you will provide will then
facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of
kin. The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio
of 60%for me and 35% for you and 5% for any expenses that we are going to
incue.There is no risk at all and if you are interested, please reply
immediately via the private email address. Upon your response, I shall
then provide you with more details and relevant documents that will help
you understand the transaction.

Please send me your full name, age, occupation, address, confidential
telephone and fax numbers for easy communication and also, Please observe
utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be
most profitable for both of us because I shall require your assistance to
invest my share in your country.

Thanks and Regards.
Mr. Maxwell Tambo
Reply me via my alternative email address: maxwelltambo22@gmail.com





Anti-fraud resources: