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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: "MR.RAPHAEL GOMEZ" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <raphaelgomez66@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 9 Oct 2010 12:43:31 -0400
Subject: TO A SAFE ACCOUNT/NEXT OF KIN

Dear Friend,
I apologize for not seeking your permission to send this letter into  your privacy. I am Mr.Raphael Gomez,an Accountant/Auditor with one of  the top banks here in UK, and a personal Account Manager to Late  Engineer William Engledew: Please read my proposal clearly, I have a  client by name Mr. William Ingledew, an engineer by  profession.Mr.Ingledew and his wife Dorothy Ingledew who reside at  Carey close,Middlesbrough, they died on the spot in a fatal car  accident in 2005 while he was driving his Citroen car on the A67,close  to Barnard Castle.
Unfortunately for him, while overtaking a goods vehicle his car  collided with a Volvo traveling in the opposite direction. The website  link below authenticates the validity of this saddening information.  The link below authenticate the saddening events. Visit this site for more info; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/4453529.stm
 
My deceased client was a consultant to several oil, manufacturing and  gas industries. He had a sojourn in the United States and so many other  countries, He belonged to several non-governmental and scientific  organizations and was also a great philanthropist and a Paul Harris  Fellow of the Rotary Club International; Since this unfortunate  happens, I have made several inquiries to your embassy to locate any of  my clients extended Relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful.
After these several unsuccessful attempts, I contacted you to assist in  repatriating the money and property left behind by my client before  they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by my bank where this  huge deposits were lodged, particularly the Standard Chartered Bank  Plc, Where the deceased had an account Valued about {$35,200,000.00}  Thirty Five Million, Two Hundred Thousand United State Dollars.
 
As I am the personal accountant to this late deceased, the Organization  of the Inheritance Committee of Great Britain has issued me a notice to  provide the next of kin to the Late Engineer William Engledew as soon  as possible other wise they will get his entire sum deposited in his  account confiscated within the next ten official working days. Since I  have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2/3 years now  after all the researches I made, I hereby seek your consent to present  you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this  account valued about {$32,200,000.00 Thirty Two Million, Two Hundred  Thousand United State Dollars}. Can be paid to you, so you I can share  the money at the profitable percentage. 55% to me and 40% to you. 5%  will set aside for defrayal of any expenses that may be incurred  locally and internationally in course of the transfer.
 
An attorney who knows the intricacies of theses inheritance transfer  will be contracted to help us revalidated and notarize all the  necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may  make. All I require is your honest cooperation and compliance to any  directives or guide lines you get from me to enable us see this deal  through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate  arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law, Thanks  for your understanding as I look forward to your response through my  private email at; (raphaelgomez@rocketmail.com )
 
 
Yours sincerely,
Mr.Raphael Gomez

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