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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: "Mr. Vincent Cheng" <mrchengchuenv@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mrchengchuenv01@live.com
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:47:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: business link

Good Day,

I am Mr. Vincent Cheng Hoi Chuen, GBS, JP Chairman of the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

Our client BRIGADIER AMER ALI NAYEF, a businessman and also who was with
the Iraqi forces, made a fixed deposit, of Twenty Two million Five Hundred
Thousand United State Dollars only in my branch, a number of notices was
sent to him, before the war which began in 2003 and also after the war
but, no response came from him. We later found out that Brigadier Amer Ali
Nayef was shot dead along with his son, Khalid Amer also in the force as
they left the family home for work in the south of the city.

After more inquiry it was also discovered that the late Brigadier, did not
declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of
his bank deposit. What bothers me most is according to the laws of my
country at the expiration of 7 years the funds will be reverted to the
ownership of the Hong Kong Government if nobody comes for the funds,
Against this scenery, I have all the information needed to claim these
funds and I want you to act as the beneficiary of the deposit, there is no
risk involved in this matter, as we are going to adopt a legitimate method
and the attorney will prepare all the necessary documents.

All I require is your honest co-operation and I guarantee that this will
be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any
breach of the law. Please accept my apologies, keep my confidence and
disregard this email if you do not appreciate this proposition I have
offered you.

All confirmable documents to back up the claims will be made available to
you prior to your acceptance and as soon as I receive your return mail Via
my email address: mrchengchuenv01@live.com and I will let you know what
is required of you.

Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Mr. Vincent Cheng

Anti-fraud resources: