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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: Williams Associates <williams.assoc@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2014 22:32:48 -1200
Subject: Waiting for your response

*WILLIAMS & ASSOCIATESAttorneys, Notaries & Conveyancers493 Kwame Nkruma
way, Accra GhanaWest Africa.Dear FriendI am Desmond Williams (Esq). I was
the personal attorney to late Mr. Michael Franklin, a national of your
country who was an Oil Magnet,Realtors and also an avid community volunteer
and a world traveler. Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On
the 31st January, 2008, my client, his wife and two kids died in a plane
crash.Since then I have made several enquirers to embassy around to locate
any of his extended relatives this has also proved unsuccessful.And I have
sent letter to the address of my client but never received a response.After
these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over
the Internet to locate any member of his family hence It wasn't successful
and I have contacted you having in mind that you might not know him, but
with your personality and position as his fellow countryman we can achieve
this aim.I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money left
behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable
by the bank and country where these huge deposits were lodged.
Particularly, the bank where the deceased had an account valued at about
US$17.8M (Seventeen Million Eight Hundred Thousand United states Dollars)
whom have severally issued me a notice to provide the Next of Kin or have
the account confiscated.Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the
relatives for over 5 years now I seek your consent to present you as the
Next of Kin of the deceased since he is a national of your country, so that
the proceeds of this account valued at (US$17.8M) can be paid to you and
then you and I can share the money. I wish to point out that after the
claims, I would want 20% of this money to be shared among charity
organizations, while the remaining 80% is shared equally between us. All I
require is your honest co-operation to enable us in seeing this deal
through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Do get back
to me if you are willing to partner with me on the claim. Thanking you in
anticipation for your urgent response.Best RegardsDesmond Williams (Esq)*

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