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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: "Barrister Andreas Vlachos." <andreasvlachos@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 19:20:04 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: CONFIDENTIAL

Barrister Andreas Vlachos.
Private Email:Barr.andreasvlachos@gmail.com

Attention:Sir/Ma,

It’s my pleasure to inform you of a transaction I think you will like to
part take despite we don’t know each other, I have sent this email to you
hoping to get a positive and sincere response in other to go into a
transaction that would bring fortune to us. I am Barrister Andreas Vlachos
a Greek/Spanish national, a solicitor at law. I am the personal attorney
to a client who was a Foreign Contractor Engineer and has spent most of
his life here in Spain.

On the 20th Aug 2008, my client, his wife and their only son were involved
in a Madrid plane crash, unfortunately for my client and his family lost
their live. Since then I have made several enquiries to his embassy to
locate any of his extended relatives but all efforts was unsuccessful.
You can check the plane crash from Google website: Spanair-plane-crash

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you and
solicit for your confidential assistance as a foreigner to execute the
claim of this fund.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the assets and Capital
valued at € 8.5 million Euro (Eight million five hundred thousand Euro
Only) left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared
unserviceable by the Bank in Madrid Spain, where these huge deposits were
lodged. The said Bank has issued me a notice to provide the Next of Kin or
have the account confiscated within the next twenty-one Official working
days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for almost 2
years now, I seek the consent to present you as the Next of Kin to the
deceased since no-one has come for the fund, so that this fund can be
transfer to your bank account. The request of a foreigner as the Next of
Kin in this transaction is occasioned by the fact that my client was a
foreigner and the money cannot be paid into a local bank here. So it will
be better for you to stand as the Next of Kin to my client, therefore, on
receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio
and modalities for transfer. I have all necessary information and legal
documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this
transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a
legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.
Please reply if interested via fax or e-mail at;
Barr.andreasvlachos@gmail.com Awaiting to hear from you.

Yours sincerely,
Barr. Andreas Vlachos.



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