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: "John Botha" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <john_botha12@rocketmail.com>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 20:34:29 +0100
Subject: HI

Hi
 
These days, life is such that it is difficult to build trust because of a lot of reasons but one thing I know is that should you decide to proceed, you will discover that what I am saying is 100% true. I have even decided to tell you this because of your honesty and openness with me. I am South African and I have been a broker for a family engaged in mining of minerals exploitation for years. This family keeps a sizeable portion of their assets in cash because they are largely merchants and cash gives them better bargaining power. My client has currently have fallen out of favour with the present government. It is for this reason I have been authorised to handle their relocation and by so doing, get a neutral person who can secure  this asset before they leave the country. This is why I am in Europe. Your property fits what they have in mind and it is well within  our budget but we will need you to cross the finish line as I will explain shortly.
 
The money we are talking about is USD$14.5M and you are correct sir when you say it is cash. It has already been boxed and security sealed and they are only awaiting my directives for it to be freighted to the desired depository company in Europe in the name of the investor/beneficiary so that he can proceed to make the claim. Every other thing is in place (including your property which will be our first purchase) and it is this investor/beneficiary that I need to finalise now and that is the reason we are talking.
 
We will go with any line of investment you propose. My clients are more interested in the security of their assets than chasing after high profits. My clients were precious stones merchants and they normally do a lot of cash transaction. So this money is money they have batched over time. I would have done this for them, but I am too close to the family and besides, they want the money out of the country. This situation is so because the family have some issues with the government leading to the withdrawal of their license. It is mainly a political issue and they are in a panic situation now and would not want to take chances with their assets as African governments always fight dirty. They expect everyone to kow tow to their directives. This is the truth. This is the situation.I really have no choice but to open up to you in this way.
 
If you decide to proceed, please find our proposed terms below:
 
1 )This business is not for a poor man. And when I say a poor man, I mean no disrespect sir judging by your asset and pedigree. It is just for emphasis as it is only someone who has handled money that can do this. If you are offended, please accept my unreserved apology. The amount involved is USD$14.5M(Fourteen million, five hundred thousand United States dollars only).
 
2) What we need is a beneficiary/investor. Someone to take control of the cash asset and hold it in trust for my clients for a minimum period of 5years
 
Upon your acceptance, my client will make you an offer of how the funds will be disbursed. If you accept, we proceed and you will invest his own share of the funds for a minimum period of 5 years starting with the purchase of your properties. Profit accrued from such investment is shared 50:50.
 
Deposit is in South Africa as we speak. It has already been batched and security sealed as stated. If you agree, deposit will be moved from South Africa to Amsterdam, The Netherlands in your name as the beneficiary. You will be given details of the depository firm in Amsterdam including deposit reference code. You will contact the firm in Amsterdam and book an appointment. You will go to Amsterdam to claim the deposit. After that, you bank the deposit and start to invest. My job is to get the deposit to Amsterdam. Your job is to go there and do all that is necessary to get the deposit in Amsterdam and invest it. Amsterdam is the only place my clients have contact and that is where they feel they can get the deposit to safely 100%. 
 
My proof is the cash assets itself  and as they say, seeing is believing.
 
John Botha 

Anti-fraud resources: