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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: Malcom King <malcomking69@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:29:36 +0800 (SGT)
Subject: REPLY ASAP


Dear Friend,

The inspiration to contact you is simply divine providence; I am making this proposition because I have to seek the partnership of a resource person to help me realize this project.
I am Barr.Malcolm King, an attorney at law and a notary public, based in London. On Oct. 31, 1999, my client Frederick M. Wong and Mrs. Lilla C. Wong, of Redwood City, California, were involved in a plane crash involving Egypt Air Flight 990.

If you wish to access more information about this crash and persons you can contact this website:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/11/01/iran/main49778.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm
 Unfortunately they all lost their lives in the event of the accident, since then I have made several inquiries to locate any of my late client's extended relatives and this has also proved unsuccessful.

After these several unsuccessful attempts to locate any member of his family, hence I contacted you as I discovered your personal information in the internet. I contacted you to assist in repatriating the properties left behind before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the banks where my client lodged these huge deposits.
Particularly, the bank where the deceased had an account.
Consequently, the bank issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated within a short time. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over some years now, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased so that the proceeds of the account valued can be paid to you for both of us to share in this ratio: 45% to me, 45% to you while 10% should be for expenses or tax as your government may require.

I intend to invest my share in your country through your assistance.
I shall provide all the necessary legal documents that can be used to back up the claim. All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Thanks for your kind co-operation.
Regards,

Barr.Malcolm King.

Anti-fraud resources: