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: Melinda Marquez <debbiehopila@freefoxmail.net>
Reply-To: melimar1972@hotmail.fr
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 04:02:27 -0800 (PST)
Subject: From Ms Melinda Marquez


>From Ms Melinda Marquez

Hello Dearest,
 
 I can tell you that I would be happy to link more than a friendship with
you. But first, let me introduce myself to you.
 
My name is Ms. MARQUEZ MELINDA, I am a Filipino citizen and my
husband died on 07 May 2007, He was a wealthy heir and businessman at
the head of a large holding.
 
My husband fell seriously ill and was taken to Europe for intensive care,
but he later died of his illness and was buried. So I inherited from my late
husband the sum of U.S. $ 12,000,000 (twelve million U.S. dollars).
 
This money, I have hidden in a metal briefcase and deposited in a security
and finance here in the Philippines . However, I have urged the security
and finance that my box be kept to a maximum security so that no person
or even a Philippine government can not take notice of its existence, until I
ready to withdraw, then the said company to respond to my demand of
maximum security used diplomatic means to send my suitcase out of the
Philippines and specifically to their parent company of Europe and
therefore my box is therefore discreetly kept in the safety security and
finance in Europe.
 
This deposit was coded under a secret arrangement that my briefcase
contains only family property. This means that the company itself does
not know the exact contents of the box because it was shipped to Europe
in a diplomatic assurance and declared as containing family property.
 
Also, the main reason why I send you this letter is that, having more
confidence in my surroundings here in the Philippines , I find myself at an
impasse and I would like you to help me quietly to take my suitcase
money to a place much more discreet and stable in your country where I
can start investing.
 
If you sincerely want to help, we will discuss in advance the percentage
that I give you of the total amount found in the briefcase. In fact, since the
death of my husband, his brothers chased me from the house and tried
several times to affect my life thinking that my death all the legal
documents of property owned by my husband they would of right.
Because of the reputation and influence that relations of my late husband
have, they have torn me all the properties of my late husband and all his
property. But they did not stop it and forced me to reveal all the bank
accounts of my late husband by threatening to my life. I therefore give
them this information and they confiscated all the bank accounts of my
late husband.
 
I reveal them all except the existence of the deposit that I made within the
security and finance company which is in Europe now, because this is my
hidden secret hope. The family of my late husband is not aware of the
existence of the deposit that I made in a security company and they will
never know. However, I'm always afraid of my husband's brothers as they
continue to spy on me and even listen to my conversations. That is why I
decided to find someone to trust outside the Philippines that will help me
to withdraw the briefcase from the finance company and discreetly place
the money in his account abroad for future investment.
 
I ask you to consider my situation is that of a widow and come to my aid
because today from this case, I have no more money and my financial
situation is more difficult (my financial situation is to zero).
 
If you want help, I will send you in my next email, the particulars of the
security company so that you can contact them for the immediate
dispatch of this box for you to secure it.
Thank you very much for your cooperation and I look forward to hearing
from you for the conclusion of this case.
 
Yours Mrs Melinda Marquez .

Anti-fraud resources: