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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: Dr. Usman <drusman7000@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:06:48 -0500
Subject: OVER DUE PAYMENT

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA CENTRAL COMPUTING/TRANSFER MONITORING UNIT HEADQUARTERS TINUBU SQUARE,LAGOS RE- OVER DUE PAYMENT I have decided to contact you directly after a serious thought because I do not have anything against anybody. I am the director of the central computer/monitoring unit of the central bank of Nigeria . Sometime in the past, Some Nigerian partners approached me through a friend of mine and requested me to assist them conclude a money transfer deal. They gave me name with details of company’s name and bank particulars and told me to include them into our computer system in the central computer unit so that it will appear as if they are one of the genuine beneficiaries that have been cleared for payment of Federal Govt contracts. According to them, they wanted to use this strategy to transfer a huge amount US$20M, which they accumulated. And the money has been floating in our Central Bank since then. The original beneficiary has been paid before, therefore they wanted to use their foreign account to transfer the inflated amount of US$20M out of Nigeria . We agreed that once i compute their name into the system, they will give me US$1M and another US$1M when i release the fund to their account. Regreatably, when they saw that I have done so and their name has been appeared & approved among the list of those to be paid, instead of giving me the agreed deposit, they started avoiding me and resorted to threat. I immediately deleted the transfer access code (T.A.C) and personal identification numbers (pin), which is only known to me due to my position and duty. Note: They became angered the more when they saw that their threat did not work, they started bribing other officials to get another approval to transfer the money to their account without success thereby going through the back doors & spent a lot of money. I am 100% responsible for the delay and obstructions because of their breach of agreement. They are simply wicked and do not know where their problem lies. Now, the US$20M has been floating here in the Central Bank, I want us to work together and achieve this goal WITH uttermost Confidentiality. These are my conditions: 1. I will have 50% of the money because it is only the two of us left for now. 2. You will assist me to open an account in your country or any other suitable place where you will pay in my own share. 3. As you have seen, it will be useless and more waste of money if you disappoint me,so it is better we agree with each other and conclude the transaction with utmost secrecy. If these conditions are acceptable to you, contact me immediately with your personal details & bank particulars so that we will finalize the deal. But if you are not interested, i advise you to forget it as it will be transferred into the federal government of Nigeria consolidated national reserve or i look for another person. You can contact me on this Tel No: +234-803-4120228. Best regards, Dr. Usman

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