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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.Ibrahim Usman" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <mribrahimusman@live.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 03:53:44 +0100
Subject: Awaiting your urgent response.

Union Bank of Nigeria
5th Floor, Stallion Plaza,
36 Marina road, Lagos, Nigeria.
PMB 96150
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
Email:  mribrahimusman@hotmail.com
 
 
 
Dearest Friend,
I am Mr.Ibrahim Usman , the Accountant Auditor General,union bank of Nigeria UBA, and a personal accountant to Mr. Steve Richard.he was a senior staff with Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria (SPDC} as the Engineering Director, after series of enquiries i was meant to understand that the depositor died On the 21st of April 2006 in a motor accident, with his family who were supposed to be the next of kin to his deposit.
 
 
 
 
 
Unfortunately, they all lost their lives in the event of the accident. Since then I have made several enquiries to his Embassy to locate any of my client's relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives over the Internet to locate any member of his family but to no avail, hence, I contacted you to assist in repatriating the money left behind by my client.
 
 
 
 
 
Consequently, the Bank has issued me a notice to provide the Next of Kin to claim the twenty five Million United States Dollars {$25m,000,000.00) in their custody within the next twenty one official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over the years now, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased to claim the fund as the Next of Kin to him so that the fund will be transferred to your bank account?
 
 
 
 
I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the deceased since you are a foreigner;So that the proceeds of this account valued at {$25m,000,000.00) can be paid to your nominated account in our favour
 
 
 
 
 
The board of directors of (Union Bank Plc) has issued a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account frozen and I know that they will surely not rest until they finally froze this fund. Instead of this fund to be frozen or converted to the Federal Government Treasury funds for importation of Arms for war, i deemed it more useful and better to work it out into your account in our favor.
 
 
 
 
 
I have all the necessary legal documents that can be used to back-up your claim as the next of kin. This we must achieve with your sincere co-operation to ensure that this fund is not wasted or ends up in the hands of people that like war, I hope you understand me very well, All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us see this deal through.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of the fund to you as indicated. You must apply to the bank as relation or next of kin of the deceased. Indicating your bank number an indicating where the money will be remitted. Upon receipt of your reply. I will send to you the text of application as soon as you receive this letter you should reach me through my above e-mail immediately and indicate this informations below:
 
 
 
 
1. NAME IN FULL-------------
2. ADDRESS-------------------------
3. SEX----------------------
4. NATIONALITY/RELIGION------------
5. MARITUAL STATUS----------
6. AGE-----------------------------
8. OCCUPATION----------------------
9. PHONE/FAX---------------
10. PRESENT COUNTRY------------------
 
 
 
All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us seeing this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you and i from any breach of the law.
 
 
Awaiting your urgent response.
Mr.Ibrahim Usman
 
 

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