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: George Allen <contact_us@freenet.lu>
Reply-To: georgeallen01@email.ua
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:55:19 +0100
Subject: GOODWILL!



Good day and best wishes, with all honor and due respect. I am Mr.
George Allen
the Accountant General of a mighty Bank here in England. I humbly request your
kindest cooperation in the transfer of money that amounts to the sum of
$162,000,000.00, I recently discovered in my bank. On Sept. 2002, an oil
consultant/contractor with a reputable multinational oil firm here, Mr. Robert
M. Peterson, he made a fixed deposit of $162m in the bank. We sent a routine
notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a
month, we sent
a remind errand; finally his employers wrote to inform us that Mr. Robert died
in an automobile accident, He died without making a will while our attempt to
investigate his next of kin proved fruitless. Only nature knows why he made it
this way. When he was making deposition in my bank, he did not declare
his next
of kin in his deposit application form, when I reminded him he said he
wished it
so, in the conservative manner of our bank, I did not turn down his request
rather honor it considering his net worth.

The point is that his employers are not aware of his deposit with us;
therefore
I am the only person who knows about Mr. Robert's deposit of $162,000,000.00,
which I would not like to disclose to the government, is now lying in
a dormant
account portfolio. I am looking forward for a reliable foreigner who
will stand
in to assist with good heart and trustworthy as the beneficiary to Mr.
Robert. I
have worked out strategies and technicalities whereby the fund can be
claimed by
appointing you as the beneficiary, as well as transfer the $162,000,000.00,
abroad for us to share. I will use an attorney who will represent you as the
beneficiary to series of affidavit in support of our claim including
Certificate of origin of the fund, Letter of Administration, which
empowers you
as the sole trustee/executive to the estate of Robert. Please note
that you may
not be required to sign any transfer document as the appointed
attorney will do
all, if you are not able to come over. If you agree to act as the next of
kin/beneficiary to enable transfer and convert the money to our
benefit use. Our
sharing ratio will be 50:50 for your assistance. I am urgently and
confidentially waiting for your meaningful response.

Regards,
George.

Anti-fraud resources: