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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: "Urbanski Marek" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <uin12ma@aim.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:23:55 +0100
Subject: HELLO

Dear friend,

I am sorry for this unsolicited email. Please take time to read my letter carefully; I am sure you will understand the necessity for my actions. I have a profiling sum in excess of €30M (Thirty Million Euros)which I seek your partnership in accommodating for me.

INTRODUCTION OF MYSELF:
I am Mr.Urbanski Marek, I was the Personal Assistance to Late Mr.Andrzej Kremer, former Poland Deputy Foreign Minister who just died in a plane crash that involved the Poland President, his Wife and other top government functionaries including my Boss (Andrzej Kremer, Deputy Foreign Minister). Below are sites from BBC and other international reporters as regards my story;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8613884.stm
http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2010/04/polands_plane_crash
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article7094224.ece

SOURCE OF FUNDS:
My boss handed over the documents of the above quoted sum to me before
he left for that very last trip. Meanwhile, the funds have already been deposited with a financial institution somewhere in the United Kingdom (undisclosed for now).

YOUR ROLE:
All I want from you is to stand as the beneficiary of the above quoted
sum. I will arrange for the documents which will enable legal and hitchfree transfer of the sum to you. If interested, please reply
immediately. In my next email to you, I will send you more details and
sites to ascertain my claims. Note that this transaction is not supposed to take more than 10 working days, 100% legal and risk free.

Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you
soonest.

Regards,

Mr. Urbanski Marek

Anti-fraud resources: