joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Barrister Julia Richards" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <Juliarichards1@live.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:29:31 +0100
Subject: Re: Can I trust you?

Dear friend

I am Barrister Julia Richards, lawyer to late Thomas McCulloch of Durango, Colorado who lost his life in a plane crash involving Egypt Air Flight 990, including his wife and only daughter. He was one of the state's most prominent native and business leaders. All these you are very free to verify from the web link below for more information and clarification about his socio-economic status until his death.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/502503.stm

before the demise of my client, he disclosed to me his account status, which amounted to £15million (Fifteen Million Great British Pounds). He also handed over to me some vital copies of documents regarding this fund already trapped at finance house in EUROPE I have made thorough inquiries about his relatives but, discovered no one really knows about this fund currently sited at EUROPE. Since then, I have made successive attempts to get his next of kin or relative to come forth and claim this fund but to no avail.

As personal lawyer to my late client, I cannot in any way claim it unless someone overseas does so. Just two weeks ago, I received a routine notification from the finance house concerning this fund, and the officials of this firm issued a warning, stressing the urgency for late Mr. Thomas McCulloch's relative or next of kin to come forward to claim this fund immediately or they will have it confiscated and forwarded to the nation's treasury account as an unclaimed fund. This is the agreement they have reached at the company and they also reiterated that this is according to the company guidelines.

Owing to the fact that his daughter whom should have stands a better chance of claiming this fund, also perished in that fatal air crash, want you to stand in as the next of kin to late Mr. Thomas McCulloch. Like I earlier asserted, I have in my possession the necessary documents that will enable me to place you in, as the right beneficiary to my late client's fund in this firm. Be informed that upon successful transfer of this money into your account, you shall have 35% of it as your share. I must remind you that trust and transparency must be our watchword in the course of this transaction.

Required Details: Full Name, Full Address, Phone Number, Age, sex, Occupation


I look forward to receiving your response soon to enable us proceed.


Yours sincerely,
Barrister Julia Richards






Anti-fraud resources: