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 Sipho V. Thando" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrsiphovilakazi@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:08:00 +0200
Subject: GOOD DAY

Dear Friend,
Firstly I want to thank you very much for the time you are able to spend to read this
message, as matter of fact, I have to assure you that this transaction that I am proposing
to you is 100% legitimate and doesn't breach any international or locally banking laws.
So there is nothing for you to worry about.

Due to special circumstance i have contacted you being a total stranger to me. I do not
expect any money from you but your honest corporation and i hope that I can trust you to
hold the communication between us in the highest confidence.

I am Accountant/manager at the Internal auditing department of one of the leading bank
in South Africa in my bank in South Africa (RENNIES BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA) we
discovered an abandoned large sum of money (US$17.5M) belonging to one of our
Foreign Customer, an Energy Economics, and Finance & Technology Consultant and
also adviser/Contractor to the South Africa energy provider, he died in air crash along
with his family. You can confirm from the website below.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/press_office/media/media633.shtml
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/1188847.plane_crash_family_were_very_close/

No other person knows about this account or anything concerning these funds, the stated
beneficiaries are dead also, so if we do not remit this funds out it will be confiscated into
the Government Treasure as dormant funds. I am seeking for your Co-operation to
present or front you as the beneficiary of the funds.

Our importance/role in the proposed deal is the fact that we are well positioned and
officially capable of leveraging a successful claim of the available cash, by presenting
you as a beneficiary, we are equally capable of setting up the internal paper work, as a
basis to officially make it possible for you to be recognized as the bona-fide next of kin
and beneficiary to the available cash, which of course, will be eventually split between us
on the terms that we have agreed on (60 for me and my colleague, while 40 for you ).

However, if you are interested in this transaction and willing to allow us to front you as
beneficiary, first before we could do anything we are to have a common understanding
among ourselves because the amount of money we are talking about is large sum of
funds. I wish to inform you that we will use my influence to project you as the
beneficiary of the funds and approve the funds over to you, as soon as I have your
maximum support and confidentiality from you I will furnish you all details documents
regarding this transaction.

The success of the claim will depend on how confidentially you handle the proposed
deal, and how responsive you are in terms of granting us your consent and co-operation
in every necessary manner, in order to make the proposed deal a success. In turn, we
promise to make the deal a resounding success with no backlash for you or for us.

Consequently as a result of the urgency and time being of the essence in this transaction,
I will appreciate you forward to me the following information for confirmations before
we proceed to enable me brief you further about this transaction

1 Your direct confidential (Cell Number) telephone(s)
2 Your confidential fax numbers
3 Your full names
4 Your Age
5 Your Country of Resident and Address
6 Occupation/profession

I will want to give you the assurance that this project is scheduled to be completed within
10 to 14 working days if all instructions are followed up religiously but you have to
Assure and guarantee me that you are going to be trustworthy and honesty as soon as the
funds arrives in your hands because human behaviors funny at times especially when it
come to money issue.

I wait to hear from you soonest.

Regards,

Mr. Sipho V. Thando
My Direct Number: ++27 83758 3051

Anti-fraud resources: