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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Alba Arellano" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <albaarellano5002@rediffmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:53:43 -0200
Subject: I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE

Mr. Alba Arellano
Manager
AIB
10 Finch Road
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM1 2PT


ATTN,

My name is Mr. Mr. Alba Arellano, I am the regional manager of the AIB Isle of Man . I got your contact information during my search through the 2010 Business Journal. I am married with 3 lovely kids. I am making this proposal to you in good faith hoping that we can assist each other. I humbly wish to introduce this lucrative business deal to you and to solicit your immediate assistance to secure some funds unaccounted for in our bank here in London during the last 2010 business year. I need assistance from a trustworthy and reliable Foreigner whom I will fill in as the beneficiary to this funds. I want you to know that this kind of deal work out in many Banks but it is always kept as classified information between the people involved, so you must prove to me that you are a reliable person for me to trust you with this money.



Source of Money:
As the regional manager of the AIB Isle of Man, it is my duty to send ina financial report to my head office in the capital city London at the end of each business year. On the course of the last year 2010 end of year report, I discovered the sum of Fifteen million seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling [GBP15, 750,000.00].This fund is of clean origin. The owner of this account is a foreigner, a program leader, until his death. The Late Prime Minister, Mr. Rafik Hariri. I will provide you with all necessary information needed in order to claim this money once you will not betray me both now and in future. Mr. Rafik Bahaa Edine Hariri (November 1, 1944 - February 14, 2005), was a Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon, and was five times Prime Minister of Lebanon (1992-1998 and 2000-2004) before his last resignation from office on October 20, 2004.




The late Rafik Hariri died on February 14, 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 300 kg of C4 were detonated as his motorcade drove past the Saint George Hotel in the Lebanese capital. Our head office is not aware of this fund and will never be aware of it because Mr. Rafik Hariri did not declare the funds because of his position in Government. I have since placed this fund on what we call SUSPENSE ACCOUNT without any beneficiary.



As an officer of this bank I can not be directly connected to this money, so this informed my contacting you for us to work so that you can assist receive this money into your bank account for us to SHARE. While you will have 30% of the total fund .Note there are practically no risk involved, it will be bank to bank transfer, all I need from you is to stand as the [next of kin] and claim the funds as the decease' beneficiary so that my head office can authorize the transfer of this fund to your designated bank account under few working days.



At this juncture I wish to tell you what prompted me to package this deal. My wife has leukemia, disease of the blood, and she needs a bone marrow transplant or she will die. I want this transplanting to be done in any specialist hospital in your country if there is one. Once this fund is transferred into your account, I shall resign from my job and bring my family to start a new life in your country. I would be grateful if you would help me in looking out for good investment opportunities with my own part of the money in a very profitable business.



I have worked for this bank for the past 15 years yet I have nothing to show up out of it, I can't even save my lovely wife from ill-fate with my official income. Please do not take undue advantage of the trust I have bestowed on you. If this mail does not appeal to your interest, kindly discard it and never tell anybody about me so you will not jeopardize my personal security. If you accept this offer to work with me, I will appreciate it very much as you are the first and the only person I am contacting for this particular transaction. As soon as I receive your response I will detail you on how we can achieve it successfully.



Kindly send your response to my private and confidential email: albaarellano5003@rediffmail.com


Sincerely Yours,


Mr. Alba Arellano

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