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. Jonathan Smith" <smithjjj@mail.com> (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:25:45 +0300 (EEST)
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

I am Mr. Jonathan Smith, Bank Manager Barclays Bank London Plc I got your
contact from the world trade center (WTC) Regional office in London
Uk.Although the details of my intention was not made known to
them.Actually,I listed your name among four other names & prayed over them
& decided to contact you directly. I have a very urgent & confidential
business proposition for you & for our overall mutual interest. On June 6
2002,an American oil consultant/contractor with the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation Mr Barry Kelly made a numbered time (fixed) deposit
for twelve calendar months, valued at USD$15,000,000.00( Fifteen million
dollars) in my branch.

Upon,maturity,i sent a routine notification to his forwarded address butt
got no reply. After a month we sent a reminder,& finally we discovered
from his contract employers NNPC,that Mr. Barry died in an automobile
accident. On further investigation, I found out that he did not leave a
WILL & all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless. I therefore
made further investigation & discovered that Mr. Barry did not declare any
next of kin in all his official documents, including his bank deposit
paperwork. This sum USD$15,000,000.00 is still floating in the bank and
the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of
each year no one will come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian
Laws, At the expiration of 12 years, the money will revert to the
ownership of the Nigerian government if nobody applies to claim the funds.
Consequently, my proposal is that i will like you as a foreigner to stand
in as a next of kin of Mr. Barry Kelly. This is simple 1)I will like you
to provide me immediately with your full names & address so that the
attorney will prepare the necessary documents & fidavits,which will put
you as next of kin. 2)We shall employ the services of two attorneys for
drafting & notarization of the WILL and obtain the necessary documents and
letter of probate/administration in your favor for the transfer.

The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of
60% for me and 40% for you. There is no risk at all as the attorney and my
position will do the paperwork for this transaction as the branch manager
guarantees the successful execution of this transaction. If you are
interested, please reply immediately this private email address. Upon your
response, I shall then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand. PLEASE OBSERVE UTMOST
CONFIDENTIALITY, and be rest assured that this would be most profitable
for both of us because i shall require your assistance to invest my share
in your country.

Awaiting your urgent reply to this email above lease save me the anxiety
of endless waiting. Please respond to this private email (
smithjjj@mail.com )

God bless you.

Mr. Jonathan Smith,
BARCLAYS BANK LONDON PLC

Anti-fraud resources: