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: "Usman Zaki" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <usmanzaki8888@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:44:21 +1000
Subject: RE: YOUR INHERITANCE CLAIM.

ATTENTION DEAR FRIEND.
 
RE: YOUR INHERITANCE CLAIM.
 
THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR OVER DUE INHERITANCE CLAIM WITH A COMMERCIAL BANK IS TO BE RELEASED,VIA KEY TESTED TRANSFER(KTT )WIRE TRANSFER TO YOU THROUGH OUR AFFILIATE BANK IN EUROPE. IT IS PERTINENT TO NOTE THAT AN ISSUE OF THIS MAGNITUDE SHOULD HAVE COMMENCED WITH A FORMAL MEETING,BUT DUE TO THE TIME FACTOR AND THE URGENCY THIS MATTER REQUIRES,PLEASE BEAR WITH ME FOR MAKING THE INITIAL CONTACT THROUGH E-MAIL.
MEAN WHILE,AN AMERICAN MAN WITH AMERICAN PASSPORT NUMBER 100003106 CAME TO MY OFFICE FEW DAYS AGO WITH A LETTER,CLAIMING TO BE YOUR TRUE REPRESENTATIVE AND HE STATED THAT YOU SENT HIM TO RECEIVE YOUR FUNDS.HERE ARE HIS INFORMATION'S BELLOW:
NAME: MR. MOSS FRANK
BANK NAME: CITY BANK
BANK ADDRESS: WASHINGTON D.C
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 321171184.
PLEASE,DO RECONFIRM TO THIS OFFICE ,AS A MATTER OF URGENCY IF THIS MAN IS FROM YOU,SO THAT THIS OFFICE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING THIS INHERITANCE FUNDS INTO THE WRONG ACCOUNT NAME.
IF THIS MAN IS NOT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE,YOU ARE REQUESTED TO FILL AND RETURN THIS INFORMATION BELLOW FOR VERIFICATION PURPOSES SO THAT YOUR INHERITANCE CLAIM VALUED US$10-M DOLLARS ONLY WILL BE REMITTED INTO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT.THIS FUND IS AS A RESULT OF INHERITANCE ON YOUR BEHALF DEPOSITED BY AN AMERICAN WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH SOMETIME AGO.
 
1. YOUR NAME:._____________________________________________________
2. YOUR ADDRESS:._____________________________________________________
3. YOUR TELEPHONE:._____________________________________________________
5. AGE:._________________________________________________________________
6. SEX:.________________________________________________________________
7. YOUR OCCUPATION:._____________________________________________________
8. YOUR BANK DETAILS:.____________________________________________________
9.A COPY OF YOUR VALID I.D CARD/INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT.
AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THE ABOVE DETAILS FROM YOU,WE SHALL COMMENCE WITH ALL NECESSARY PROCEDURES IN OTHER TO TRANSFER THIS FUND INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT THROUGH THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE/FOREIGN OPERATIONS WHO HANDLES ALL FOREIGN INHERITANCE CLAIM/FUNDS.
 
WE SHALL PROCEED WITH THE PAYMENT DETAILS TO THE SAID MR MOSS FRANK,IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT THREE WORKING DAYS FROM TODAY.
 
BEST REGARDS.
DR.USMAN ZAKI .
(FOREIGN PAYMENT UNIT)
NOTE:ALL FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE/REPLIES SHOULD COME THROUGH THIS EMAIL ADDRESS: usmanzaki8888@hotmail.com

Anti-fraud resources: