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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: "Mrs. Josephine White" <abcinc@ubsgeneva-sa.com>
Reply-To: mrsjosephinewhite@bimtegltd.com
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:01:53 -0500
Subject: Please read




>From Mrs. Josephine White
HSBC Bank UK

Hello Dear,

I am contacting you in regards to a business transfer of a large sum of
money from a dormant account. Though I know that a

transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried,
but I am assuring you that all will be well at the

end of the day

PROPOSITION
I discovered an abandoned sum of US$16,00, 000.00 (Sixteen Million
Dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign

Customers late George Brumley. This very account has been dormant for some
years now. After my investigations, I discovered

that the account owner has died since July 2003 with all his family
members in a plane crash.

Since his death, nobody has come forward to lay claims to this money and
recently my bank issued a notice that the account

will be declared unserviceable and the funds called to the government
treasury since no relative of the deceased customer

came up. In order to avert this negative action, I now seek your
permission to have you stand as a next of kin so that the funds can be
released in your favor as the next of kin within few days after i transfer
some vital information and documentation to your name.Please acknowledge
the receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavor
by furnishing me with the following if you are willing to work with me
with honesty.

1. Your full name
2. Postal address
3. Profession
4. Telephone and fax numbers

This information will enable me work on the Deceased account file so as to
indicate you as his next of kin after which you

will formally apply for the release of the funds as the next of kin to the
Deceased customer to this bank I work at. We are

going to share the total sum on final conclusion of this project on a
50-50 equal.

If you are truly disposed and capable of handling this, reach me immediately.

Regards,
Mrs. Josephine White
HSBC Bank UK


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