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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Morgan" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stevemorgan39@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 07:14:47 -0500
Subject: kindly partner with me

Dear friend good day, I know for sure this letter will certainly surprise you but please take a moment to read through. It is very important. I'm Steve Morgan and I work at a financial services firm in the Netherlands. I've got your address through the International Web Directory Online found.

During my company’s last meeting and examination of the bank accounts within our company, my department found a dormant account with an enormous sum of US$ 55,500,000.00 (fifty five million five hundred thousand US dollar) which was deposited by a late Mr. Williams from England before his death. From our investigation he had no next of kin to claim these funds. According to the Netherlands banking regulation only a foreigner can stand as next of kin, considering the fact that the depositor was a non-Dutch.

I need your permission to stand as a relative of our deceased customer, so that the funds can be released and transferred to your bank account immediately. At the end of the transaction 40% will be for you and 60% will be for me and my colleagues. I still work at the financial house and that's the reason I need a second party to work with. I have in my possession all the necessary documents to have this transaction carried out successfully.

Further information will be provided upon the receipt of your prompt response and I want you to know that the transaction is risk free but all I need is your trust and honesty.

Kindly reply me with your private email (for confidential reasons), telephone and fax number so I can give you more details and explain the procedures of the proposal to you.

Kindly respond back to me on this mail

Stevemorgan39@aol.com

Regards,

Steve Morgan

Anti-fraud resources: