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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: David Craig <mrdavidcraig@ymail.com>
Reply-To: davidcraig01@ymail.com
Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:06:27 +0100
Subject: From David



--
Hello Dear,
I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise even as I have not
considered this medium to be the best in approaching you, because of the
high level of internet abuse in recent years, which is very insecure for
confidential information of this kind. I have decided to take the chance
seeing that no other means could have been faster than the E-mail. I got
your contact through a private search on a directory and had a deep
feeling that you will be reliable to confide in.
I am David Craig, an investment banker here in UK. I write to seek your
partnership for a business transaction that will give us a great
opportunity of being in possession of over due unclaimed sum of $12.5M
(Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States of America
Dollars), an investment deposit that belongs to our late foreign
Customer who engaged my services and guideline to make this deposit in
my bank prior to his untimely death.
As an officer in my bank, I cannot be directly connected to this fund,
and my basic aim of contacting you is to assist me receive this fund in
your bank account before the bank resolves to confiscate the fund into
Government Treasury in line with the regulation here. I will provide you
with all the necessary information and paper works from the involved
authorities to legally back up the claim, so that this $12.5M will be
transferred to your nominated account successfully.
Finally, I will appreciate it very much if you do not make undue
advantage of the trust I have bestowed in you, because I am sure that we
will achieve it successfully.
If this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my
apology and kindly get back to me to enable me further my search for
another partner. Whatever your decision, I await your prompt response,
and believing that the transaction will be treated as private, absolute
confidentiality and sincerity. I look forward to your quick reply with
the below information:
Full names
Contact Address
Mobile/Phone Number
Age
Occupation
Kind regards,
David Craig

Anti-fraud resources: