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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Programa AIH - GRS Passos" <sihd.pas@saude.mg.gov.br>
Reply-To: mrkellyedward1@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:48:06 -0200
Subject: Hello

Dear friend,

Greetings to you in the name of almighty God, this mail might come to you
as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come into
your mind; but please, consider it a divine wish and accept it with a deep
sense of humility. My name is Kelly Edward. I?m a 65 years old man. I am
British living in Dubai (United Arab Emirate). I was a merchant and owned
two businesses in Dubai. I was also married with two children. My wife and
two children died in a car accident six years ago.

Before this happened my business and concern for making money was all I
lived for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the
loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families.
I have been helping orphans in orphanage/ motherless homes. I have donated
some money to orphans in Sudan, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil, Spain,
Austria, Germany and some Asian countries. ! Before I became ill, I kept
$18 Million in a long-term deposit account in a security company.

Presently, I?m in a hospital where I have been undergoing treatment for
oesophageal cancer. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors
have told me that I have only a few months to live. It is my last wish to
see this money distributed to charity organizations. Because relatives and
friends have plundered so much of my wealth since my illness, I cannot
live with the agony of entrusting this huge responsibility to any of them.

Please, I beg you to help me collect the deposit and the interest accrued
from the company and distributes it amongst charity organizations. Use
your judgement to distribute the money and feel free to reimburse yourself
when you have the money for any cost you incur during the process of
collecting and distributing the money to charity organizations.

I?m willing to offer you a ! reward If you are willing to help; please
reply as soon as you can to mrkellyedward1@yahoo.com.hk

Regards,
Mr Kelly Edward.

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