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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: "Mr. Ban Ki-Moon" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <info.compensatethroughzenithba@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:34:37 -0700
Subject: RE: SCAMMED VICTIM/ US$550,000.00 BENEFICIARY.REF/PAYMENTS CODE:06654

RE: SCAMMED VICTIM/ US$550,000.00 BENEFICIARY.REF/PAYMENTS CODE:06654
 
ZENITH BANK COMPENSATION UNIT, IN AFFILIATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS. Send a copy of your response to official email: info.compensatethroughzenithba@gmail.com
 
Hello Dear,
How are you today? Hope all is well with you and family? You may not understand why this mail came to you.
In regards to the recent meeting between the United Nations and the Present United States Government to restore the dignity and Economy of Nations; based on the agreement with the World Bank Assistance to help make the world a better place for all with the sole aim of abolishing  poverty. We have been having series of meetings for the past 4 months which ended 2 working days ago with the immediate past secretary to the UNITED NATIONS.
This email is to all the people that have been scammed in any part of the world through any form, the UNITED NATIONS have agreed to compensate them with the sum of US$550,000.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars Only) each. These include every foreign contractor that may not have received the contract sum, and people that have had an unfinished transaction or international businesses that failed due to Government problems etc and or any form of scam.
Your name and email was in the list submitted by our Monitoring Team of Economic and Financial Crime Commission observers and this is why we are contacting you. This have been agreed upon and have been signed.
You are advised to contact Mr. Godwin Emefiele of ZENITH BANK NIGERIA PLC, as he is our representative in Nigeria, contact him immediately for your Cheque/ International Bank Draft of USD$550,000.00 (Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States Dollars Only).This fund is in a Bank Draft for security purpose. So he will send it to you and you can clear it in any bank of your choice.
This meeting was first held on the 8th of April 2003. You can view this page for your perusal:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/ik344.doc.htm
Therefore, you should send him your full Name and telephone number/your correct mailing address where you want him to send the Draft to you. Note that you are not supposed to pay him for any official fee EXCEPT the charge for the delivery of your draft to your doorstep.
Contact Mr. Godwin Emefiele immediately for your Cheque:
Person to Contact Mr. Godwin Emefiele
Email:  info.compensatethroughzenithba@gmail.com
Good luck and kind regards,
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary (UNITED NATIONS).
Making the world a better place
http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/Pictures/Symbols/United%20Nations%20logo%20ca.htm
http://www.un.org/sg/

Anti-fraud resources: