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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: "Mrs. Deborah Wilkinson" <theodoraa1982@gmail.com>
Reply-To: d81592730462w@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 20:08:59 -0800
Subject: Willing to hear from you...

Hi,

I have been in search for someone bearing this name in your country and
when i saw your name i have no choice but to contact you and see how best
we can assist each other. I am Mrs. Deborah Wilkinson a banker here in
Kedah of Malaysia. I believe it is destiny for me to come across your name,
i have an important business i wish to share with you and it will interest
you because, it is in connection with your name and you are going to
benefit from it.

A citizen of your country had a fixed deposit with the bank i am working
with in 2010 for 36 calendar months, valued at Seven Hundred and Fifty
Thousand United States Dollars ($750,000:00) and the due date for this
deposit contract was this 26th of November 2013. Sadly he was among the
dead victims in the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. He was in
Japan on a business trip and that was how he met his end. My bank
managements are yet to know about his death, i knew about it because he was
my friend and i am his account officer and he did not mention any next of
kin / heir when the account was opened, was not married and no children.
Last week my bank managements requested that i should give instructions on
what to do about his fund, if to renew the contract or not.

I knew this will happen and that is why i started looking for a means to
handle the situation, because if my bank managements happens to know that
he is dead and do not have any heir, they will take the fund for their
personal use, so i don't want such to happen. That was why when i saw your
name i was happy and i am now seeking your co-operation to present you as
beneficiary to the account, since you have the same name with him and with
that my bank head quarter will transfer the fund to you. It is better that
we claim this money, than allowing my bank managements to take it, they are
rich already. I am not a greedy person, so i am suggesting we share the
fund equally, which is 50%/50% for both of us, my share will assist me in
starting my own company which i have been dreaming about for a long time
now. Willing to hear from you.

Best regards,
Mrs. Deborah Wilkinson.

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