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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: "Mrs. LAURA GEORGE" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <lrua_george02@live.com>
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:45:51 -0400
Subject: FROM MRS. LAURA GEORGE..


FROM THE DESK OF:
MRS. LAURA GEORGE.
UNITED NATIONS FUND MONITORING OFFICER.

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES,
INTERNAL AUDIT, MONITORING, CONSULTING AND INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION.


ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY,

AS EARLIER INFORMED, I CAME TO NIGERIA A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO FROM THE NEW
YORK U.S.A AFTER HOLDING SCHEDULED MEETINGS WITH THE WORLD BANK PRESIDENT
ROBERT B. ZOELLICK AND THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON. THE AGENDA OF
THE MEETINGS IS BASED ON NUMEROUS COMPLAINS FROM THE FBI AND OTHER
SECURITY AGENCIES FROM ASIA, EUROPE AND AMERICA RESPECTIVELY ON THE RATE
OF PAYMENT DELAY ACTIVITIES/SCAM AS EVIDENT IN AFRICA AND OTHER PARTS OF
THE GLOBE. I HEREBY ATTACH MY OFFICIAL ID CARD FOR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS
CORRESPONDENCE.

ON BEHALF OF THIS BODY I APPOLOGIZE FOR ALL THAT YOU WENT THROUGH IN THE
PAST REGARDING THE CLAIMING OF YOUR INHERITANCE FUNDS. I MET WITH THE
NIGERIAN NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT (GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN) WHO CLAIMED
IGNORANT OF THE DELAY IN RELEASING FOREIGN BENEFICIARIES FUNDS IN AFRICA
BUT PROMISED TO MAKE SURE THAT ANY BENEFICIARY WHOSE FUND IS DUE AND
APPROVED SHALL BE GIVEN URGENT ATTENTION FOR THE RELEASE OF SUCH FUND TO
THE BENEFICIARY.

DURING OUR RECONCILIATION REVIEW, SOME UNPAID LOTTERY WINNING, CONTRACT
PAYMENTS AND INHERITANCE PAYMENT FILES BELONGING TO FOREIGN BENEFICIARIES
WERE RECOVERED.

YOUR PAYMENT WAS AMONG THE APPROVED BENEFICIARIES FUND EARMARKED TO BE
PROCESSED AND WIRED TO YOU THROUGH TELEGRAPHIC WIRE TRANSFER. WHEN THE
TIME COMES YOU WILL PROVIDE THE BANK INFORMATION WHERE YOU WISH TO RECEIVE
YOUR FUND. THIS OFFICE SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE TO YOU THE FUND APPROVAL
DOCUMENTS TO CLARIFY THAT THE FUND YOU WILL RECEIVE IS FROM A GENUINE
SOURCE, AND IT'S FREE FROM ANY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.

IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT I HAVE A VERY LIMITED TIME TO SPEND HERE
IN AFRICA. THEREFORE IT WILL BE IN YOUR INTEREST TO GIVE THIS MESSAGE THE
REQUIRED URGENT ATTENTION.

PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING DETAILS FOR RATIFICATION PURPOSE;

A. YOUR COMPLETE NAMES-
B. YOUR FULL CONTACT ADDRESS (P. O. BOX NOT ACCEPTED PLEASE)-
C. YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBERS-

RESPOND TO E-MAIL ADDRESS: lrua_george02@live.com

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.

SINCERELY YOURS,
MRS. LAURA GEORGE,
UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES.

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