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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: "DR.JOSEPH SANUSI" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <drsanusijoseph@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2013 08:24:08 -0800
Subject: mutual benefit

SIR/MADAM
I GOT YOUR EMAIL FOLLOWING MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PARTNER TO WORK WITH FOR OUR MUTUAL BENEFIT.I AM THE CHAIRMAN OF DEBT PAYMENT COMMITTEE OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA [AFRICA].AND WAS MANDATED TO INVESTIGATE ALL FOREIGN ONTRACTS/INHERITANCE  PAYMENTS OF BENEFICIARIES WHOSE MONEY HAS NOT BEEN PAID BY THE PAST GOVERNMENT .DURING OUR NVESTIGATION,WE FOUND OUT THAT SOME PAST OFFICIALS HAS AWARDED A CONTRACT WORTH OF USD $100,000,000 [ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS]TO AN AMERICAN CONSTRUCTION FIRM IN 2007,BUT THAT CONTRACT WAS OVER INVOICED TO THE TUNE OF USD$150,000,000 MILLION WITH THE INTENTION OF SHARING THE OVER-INVOICED SUM OF USD$50 MILLION  AMONG THEM SELVES BUT WHERE REMOVED FROM OFFICE FOR CORRUPTION BY THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT AND THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO SHARE THE OVER-INVOICED SUM BEFORE THEY WERE REMOVED.AFTER OUR INVESTIGATIONS,WE HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU IN ORDER TO PRESENT YOU AS ONE OF OUR SUB-CONTRACTORS.WITH YOUR APPROVAL,WE WILL PRE! SENT YOU AS THE FUND BENEFICIARY [
 
WE HAVE DULLY WORKED OUT THE MODALITY TO HANDLE THIS TRANSACTION IN THESE CAREFULLY FOLLOWING STAGES. YOU WILL HELP BY PROVIDING A SAFE BANK ACCOUNT INTO WHICH THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED AND YOU WILL ALSO STAND IN AS THE FUND BENEFICIARY. I WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ANSWERS TO SECURITY QUESTIONS, WHICH YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER WHEN CALL UPON. WE WILL SECURE ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN YOUR FAVOR AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR INTEREST AND SUBMIT IT TO THE AUTHORITIES FOR APPROVALS AND IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF THE FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT THROUGH ANY OF OUR CORRESPONDENCE BANKS IN UK OR AMERICA. I WILL NOT ALSO FAIL TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT THIS MONEY IS REAL AND 100% HITCH-FREE SO YOU SHOULD NOT ENTERTAIN ANY FEAR AS ALL NECESSARY ARRANGEMENTS HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSFER OF THE FUND WITHIN 10 BANKING DAYS. LIKE AS I SAID, ALL I REQUIRED FROM YOU IS YOUR HONESTY, FULL CORPORATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY ON THIS PROJECT.
 
 
NOTE THAT, THE ORIGINAL CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN PAID IN-FULL BUT THE OVER-INVOICED SUM OF USD$50 MILLION IS STILL INDICATING IN OUR SUSPENSE ACCOUNT AS UNPAID CONTRACT PAYMENT.THE PRESIDENT OF MY COUNTRY HAS ALSO INSTRUCTED THIS OFFICE TO FIND ANY CONTRACTOR/INHERITANCE FUND BENEFICIARY THAT HAS NOT BEEN PAID BY THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT AND SUBMIT THEIR NAMES FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT.
I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO PROCEED.THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS
BEST REGARDS,
DR.JOSEPH SANUSI
CHAIRMAN

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