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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: Tony Ken <office12347325@att.net>
Reply-To: tonykennmr@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:16:35 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Dear Friend

Dear Friend,

My name is Mr Tony Ken,

A Banker in one of the reputable Bank here in my Country-Nigeria . I have decided to contact you on a business proposal of $40.5M ( Forty Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ).
The depositor of the said fund died with his wife and children in a crash. The deceased customer used his wife as the next of kin but unfortunately, The wife died along side with him leaving nobody for the claim.

According to our Banking law, If the fund remain unclaimed for three (3) Years then the fund will be transferred into the reserve Bank as unclaimed Bill. And I don't want the fund to go into the Bank's treasury and as such, let us claim the fund now.

I want to present you as his business partner so that the Bank will transfer the fund into your Bank account for us to share it.Your percentage will be 40% while 50% will be for me. Then 10% will be used for expenses and to install a joint company in your country which will bear our names.
As an insider in this Bank, I assure you that, this transaction is 100% risk free and legal. And it success will bring your family and mine to an everlasting relationship in future.

The transaction will take us only 14 Bank working days depending on your swift response. If you are willing to do the transaction with me, Contact me for more details through this e-mail(tony000ken@gmail.com) and give me your FullName and Address.............. / Phone no...............to enable us proceed further.

Thanks for your co-operation,

Mr Tony Ken.
Senior Staff Manager.

Anti-fraud resources: