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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: "RICHARD TANN" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <richard-tann@mail.kz>
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:48:31 +0100
Subject: FROM RICHARD TANN

Bank of East Asia ltd.
Bank of East Asia Building,
137 Market Street, Singapore 048943

Special information!!!

According to findings from private investigation a customer of ours who may be related to you (perhaps)
in Singapore died some years ago in an auto accident here in Singapore leaving behind an estate/huge
capital value at 41.1 million USD (with interest still accruing) in the bank here where I work, till date
nobody has come forward or put application for the deceased claim as next of kin.

During the bank private search recently for the late gentle man relatives your name and email contact
was among (s) the finding that matches the same surname as the deceased (name WITHHELD for
security reason) who died intestate. No WILL or NEXT OF KIN. To maintain the level of security required
I have intentionally left out the final details of the deceased person.

I urge you to come forward since I can provide you with the details needed for you to claim the
estate/huge capital so that we all (You and us) can benefit from this great opportunity, in this way, you
must agree to accept 50% from the estate/huge capital while me and my colleague will get from you 50%
for taking part to do all the crucial work in the bank to have the claim release to you promptly without any
questioning from any quarter. The essence of this message is strictly for benefits for you and us and
nothing more. To affirm your willingness and cooperation please do so by replying me at my private
email (richard-tann@mail.kz) stating your FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, TELEPHONE NUMBER, FAX
NUMBER, PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS, NATIONALITY AND POSTAL ADDRESS. And then I can have the
confidence to brief you more on the above subject.

I await your prompt reply.

Thank you,

Mr. Richard Tann.

Anti-fraud resources: