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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: "MRS.HELEN DUGGIN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <helen_dgg@live.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:20:50 -0000
Subject: I AWAIT YOUR RESPOND

MY DEAREST ONE,
HOW ARE YOU TODAY? I AM MRS.HELEN DUGGIN. I AM MARRIED TO DR.GOMEZ DUGGIN , A CONTRACTOR IN CANADA FOR TWENTY YEARS . WHO DIED IN THE YEAR 2003. WE WERE MARRIED FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS WITHOUT A CHILD, HE DIED DURING HIS CONTRACT WORK IN CANADA.
 
BEFORE HIS DEATH WE WERE BOTH BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS,SINCE HIS DEATH I DECIDED NOT TO RE-MARRY.WHEN MY LATE HUSBAND WAS ALIVE HE DEPOSITED THE SUM OF ( $27.6 MILLON DOLLARS) IN A BANK IN CANADA, AND NOW THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BANK HAVE JUST INFORMED ME TO COME FORWARD TO RECEIVE THE MONEY OR RATHER ISSUE A LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION TO SOMEBODY TO RECEIVE IT ON MY BEHALF IF I CAN NOT COME OVER BECAUSE OF MY CONDITION AT HAND.
 
I AM PRESENTLY WITH MY LAPTOP IN A HOSPITAL HERE IN LONDON WHERE I HAVE BEEN UNDERGOING TREATMENT FOR CANCER OF THE LUNGS, 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 THAT THIS MONEY IS INVESTED AND AT THE END OF EVERY YEAR DISTRIBUTED AMONG CHARITY ORGANIZATION. AND FOR YOUR COMPENSATION, AS SOON AS THE MONEY ENTERS YOUR ACCOUNT TAKE 20% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT, 5%WILL BE FOR ANY EXPENSES YOU MIGHT PROCURE FOR THE WORK OF GOD, WHILE OTHER 75% WILL GO TO THE CHARITY ORGANIZATION FOR INVESTMENT.
 
I TOOK THIS DECISION BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF POOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM DIFFERENT KIND OF DISEASE AND THE HOMELESS,I BELIEVE THE MORE YOU GIVE THE MORE BLESSINGS YOU RECEIVE.WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE AS SOON AS I RECEIVE YOUR REPLY I SHALL GIVE YOU THE CONTACT OF THE BANK IN CANADA WHERE THE MONEY IS BEEN DEPOSITED.
 
I AWAIT YOUR RESPOND SO I CAN ATTACH MY INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT FOR YOU TO KNOW ME IN PERSON.
 
YOURS IN CHRIST,
MRS.HELEN DUGGIN

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