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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: Smith Washington <smith01@sify.com>
Reply-To: smith.washington01@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 06:48:05 -0800 (PST)
Subject: VERY URGENT!!!




From the office of WASHINGTON SMITH.
Account Dept. Manager,
Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
No:479,Avenue Kwame N'kruma
Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso
 
Attention: Beneficiary.
 
CLAIMS OF YOUR INHERITANCE FUND VALUED US$10.5 MILLION BY SOME REPRESENTATIVES.
 
Good Day to you and your family. I do like to let you know that a power of attorney and an Application Letter of Change of Ownership has been forwarded to my office by MR. IBRAHIM ALI HAMMAD a Citizen of DUBAI, U.A.E. He claimed to be from you and also stated that you sent him to receive the fund on your behalf.
 
I want you to know that your Registered Previous Personal Details which is now in my Office was forwarded to me by the Central Bank Governor and the Transfer Unit as well. This man claimed to be the representative of your Family, and this power of attorney stated that you are dead and he brought an account to replace your informations and claimed your fund of US$10.5Million which is right now put on HOLD that was setup for these gentleman and its highly secured and protected by a high level security which makes nobody to be able to withdraw any money from the account until you or your family members confirms that you are alive by submitting all those needed documents.
 
BELOW IS THE ACCOUNT WHERE THE MAN (YOUR RE-PRESENTATIVE) CHOOSED FOR THE TRANSFER:
BANK NAME: STANDARD BANK OF DUBAI
NAME OF ACCOUNT HOLDER: IBRAHIM ALI HAMMAD
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 2984-0008-660.
SWIFT CODE: BOPIPHMM.
AMOUNT FOR TRANSFER: US$10.5 MILLION.
 
Be informed that this power of attorney also stated that you suffered and died of a Heart cancer. All you just have to do is for you to confirm if you are really alive  because its sound furious that such kind of a thing just happened to you. I was Instructed to find out if it really happened or not before the fund will be transfered to the bank account above.
Note: this message demands urgent response as whoever do read these if its you or a family Member or Friend who has access to  your email address, should respond immediately.
 
You are therefore advised to confirm the truth of this information if you are still alive by  responding back immediately so that these office can know what line of actions to be taken,because they are just insisting that we ORDER out the transfer of which we are writting to you on their absent to confirm if you are still alive.
 
Since no response from you regarding the bank requirements for the transfer into your account, we are now suspecting that it might be true that you died as your relatives stated. The only evidence now is you or your family members to contact us through this your email address and confirming if these people are from you or else we will transfer the fund to them. Kindly Provide the following details below for immediate actions to be carried out:
 
1: Your full name:
2: Your Complete address:
3: Your age :
4: Your Occupation:
5: Your Telephone:
6: Your Fax:
7: Your Sex:
8: Your Bank Name:
9: Your Bank Address:
10: Your Account Number:
 
I look forward hearing from you urgently.
 
Best regards,
MR.WASHINGTON SMITH
Account Dept. Manager,
IDB BANK.

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