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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.TROKS WILLIAMS <info@britishsoldier.onmicrosoft.com>
Reply-To: <troks_williams@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:21:01 +0530
Subject: MAIL FROM MR TROKS WILLIAMS


I am Troks Williams one of the accountants of HSBC Bank, London, United Ki=
ngdom. On the 2nd of January 2005, I received a call that one of my clients=
died in the Tsunami Disaster with his wife and only child while on vacatio=
n at Phuket Island in Thailand. Since then I have made several enquiries to=
locate any of my client's extended relatives and until date and have not s=
ucceeded. I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money left beh=
ind by my client before it gets confiscated by our bank or declared unservi=
ceable by our bank where this deposit is lodged, now that the bank Director=
s have called for a board meeting regarding this Fund. My main motive right=
now is to share this great opportunity with you by presenting you as the N=
ext of Kin to the Deceased since all his banking details are with me as his=
personal Account Officer. And the deceased Account valued at US$17.5M. Sin=
ce I have been unsuccessful in locating the biological relatives of my late=
client, I hereby seek your consent to present you to the bank as next-of-k=
in of the deceased since you are a foreigner, so that the proceeds of this =
account valued at US$17.5M can be transferred to you as inheritance and the=
reafter, you and I can share the money; 50% to me and 40% to you, while 10%=
will be donated to the Tsunami Disaster Charity Fund. We shall start the f=
irst transfer with US$5,000.000.00 (Five Million United States Dollars only=
), upon the successful actualization of the first transfer without any disa=
ppointment from your side, we shall re-apply for the payment of the remaini=
ng amount to your account. I have the original copy of Certificate of Depos=
it of the funds, which will be used to substantiate our inheritance claims.=
All I require is your consent and honest co-operation to enable us see the=
deal through. Furthermore, I guarantee that the transaction will be execut=
ed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of =
the law. Please contact me if you are interested immediately to enable us c=
ommence the transaction. Best regards, Troks Williams . we can heal the wor=
ld with just a little love and a little smile.

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