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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: "Daniel Owen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <daniel@c-consult.info>
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:45:22 -0000
Subject: Confidential Request

Dear Partner,
 
I am Daniel Owen, a financial consultant and business analyst based here in London.I was the former financial consultant to the Late Mr. David Clemetson, an American Investor who unfortunately lost his life and that of his entire family in the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which crashed on January 31 2000. This you can be able to confirm via the link: http://www.lifewhile.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-20000201-133854.html
 
I decided to contact you purely on a personal conviction of trust and confidence to partner with me in claiming the funds left behind by my late client who had a deposit of Five Million, Five Hundred Thousand British Pound Sterling which I helped him to deposit in one of the leading banks here in London two years before his untimely death. Being his former financial consultant, the bank would not let me inherit this wealth or present myself as the beneficiary to this huge amount of money.
 
Hence I seek your consent to present you as the relative/next-of-kin and beneficiary to my late client, so that the proceeds of this account could be paid to you after which we then share the money on a mutually agreed percentage, 60% to me and 40% to you. You must take note that all legal documents to back up this claim as my late client's next-of-kin will be provided, what i require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. Moreover, this deal will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. I must also use this opportunity to ask you to keep this matter extraordinary confidential, whatever your decision is, do let me know as soon as possible.
 
Best regards,
Daniel Owen

Anti-fraud resources: