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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: "Mr. Russell Irons" <ironsrussell@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 06:13:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: PROPOSITION FROM MR. RUSSELL


Mr. Russell Irons
3rd Floor 29-30 Cornhill
London EC3V 3nd

This may not be the best way to approach you, but the urgency of the circumstances of this matter leaves me with little choice. But please consider this is a genuine offer for our mutual benefit. I am Mr. Russell Irons, a British citizen and former Personal Assistant to Mr. Martin Olds. My late boss was an associate of Mukoro Lawrence, who was a wealthy black farmer and senior politician with the opposition political party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and was murdered by agents of President Robert Mugabe. He was accused of helping white farmers in the fight against the government. The government claims that he died of a heart attack. No autopsy was done and he was buried in the State Cemetery. His
associate Mr. Martin Olds, a White farmer from Britain was also killed. Mr. Olds was attacked and murdered in his home. You will read more stories about President Mugabe's brutal acts by visiting this website:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2000/0418/zimbabwe.html

Before his death, my late boss Mr. Martin Olds deposited the sum of Eight Million British pounds with one of the banks in South Africa. The money was intended for the purchase of new machinery and chemicals for the establishment of farms in Lesotho and Swaziland. The money has been in an escrow account at the bank for more than 12 years.

Mr. Mukoro’s family was killed in what appears to be an arranged accident, while Mr. Olds never had a family. My purpose of writing is for you to provide a bank account to receive the money. The only way we can claim the money is to present someone as Mr. Olds’ partner. So I want to present you to the bank as late Mr. Olds’ partner, who will
receive the funds for investment.  As Mr. Olds Personal Assistant and confidant, there is no risk involved in this business. If you agree to collaborate with me, I will prepare the paperwork that will authenticate you as Mr. Olds’ partner. Then I will submit this paperwork to the bank and instruct them to transfer the money to you.
When the money is transferred into your account, we shall share between us. I offer to give you 30% of the total money, while I take 70%. I await your positive response.

Sincerely,
Mr. Russell Irons.    



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