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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: "Takashi H." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <takas.h101@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:54:17 +0100
Subject: >business---proposal< JKGLQWCNYP

____Dear friend,
____I am sorry for this unsolicited email. Please take time to read my letter carefully; 
____I’m sure you will understand the necessity for my actions. I have a profiling sum in 
____excess of $40M (Thirty Million Dollars) which I seek your partnership in accommodating.
____I am Mr. Takashi Hara, Chief Financial Officer of The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. 
____Sometime in 1999, a certain consultant/contractor Mr. Rodney Pearson made a fixed Deposit 
____amount in my branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address 
____in America but got no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered 
____from his contract employers, the Japanese Solid Minerals Corporation that Mr. Rodney Pearson 
____died longside his longtime companion, from an airplane crash.
 
____YOUR ROLE:
____All I want from you is to stand as the beneficiary of the above quoted sum. I will 
____arrange for the documents which will enable legal and hitch free transfer of the sum to you. 
____If interested, please reply. In my next email to you, I will send you more details and sites
____to ascertain my claims. Note that this transaction is 100% legal and risk free.
____Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you soonest.
____Regards,
____Takashi. H.

Anti-fraud resources: