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: "Mrs. Ameena Jawa Mohammed." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mrs.ameena.mohammed@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:27:27 -0400
Subject: Personal/Confidential Request

Dear Friend,

I am Mrs. Ameena Jawa Mohammed, and a mother of two. My youngest child
named Josef is a three-year-old boy suffering from Autism. He is beautiful
like an angel and has a smile that lights up the world, and his laugh never
fails to be catching to all within range, loved by many people and is
adored by his father, big sister, and myself. We are totally devoted to
get him the best possible kind of treatment.

My husband Mr. Abdullah Mohammed, was arrested as a result of opinions he
conferred during an interview about the deteriorating security situation
caused by the refusal of the present government of President Bashar
AL-Assad rejection not to allow democracy and respect of human rights,
which has further provoked a hardened group of close-knit Syrian fighters
believed to be army defectors to wage armed offenses against President
Bashar Assad's security forces. Before his unlawful arrest, he was head of
a Strategic Committee in the petroleum industry in Syria.

The reason for my letter is to request your co-operation on a confidential
matter regarding a large amount of money which is exactly $18Mn (Eighteen
Million United States Dollars).

The money is presently secured in a safe deposit box of a private security
company here in Damascus Syria. This money belongs to my husband who is
presently been held in prison by President Bashar AL-Assad.

The refusal of the government to yield to the wishes of the people for
democracy and respect of human rights by stepping down has now led the
country into a civil war. In view of this, my husband has instructed me to
act quickly by finding a way to move the children and the
money out of Syria into a safe country.

This is a very difficult letter for me to write as every internal avenue
for help seem to have been closed to me and my family. The future of my
sick son who is in need of professional medical attention and his big
sister now depends on moving out of Syria. This is of much importance to me
that I am prompted to contact you for your cooperation and help.

The thought of turning to a stranger for help is beyond my experience, but
I would appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness for a positive response
to have this funds moved into your custody for (safekeeping).

With gratitude I can only hope that you can take the time to please
consider this request. My family is willing to greatly reward you with 30%
of the money for your help. I know this is not much in return for your
consideration, but I hope our desperate need for help will give you pause
regardless.

Thank you,

Mrs. Ameena Jawa Mohammed.
Thawra Street, Damascus
Syria.

Anti-fraud resources: