joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Miller P." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <millerp101@yahoo.com.ph>
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 06:09:48 -0000
Subject: STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Hello there,

Hope your day is great? With trust, I faithfully contact you this day. I want to confirm to you that my interest to good money internationally is strong. I know this letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take time to go through it carefully, as the decision you make will go a long way to determine our future business relationship.

I am Sergeant Morgan Arthur. I'm a U.S soldier with the NATO troop currently stationed in Afghanistan; I am the officer in charge of medics. It is my intention to live outside the confines of the United States after my retirement in probably 6 months, owing to the fact that I would like a quiet and peaceful life after my services as a soldier. Furthermore, I have decided to relocate with my family to live in any part of Europe in order to settle down and afford for myself the civil life I have denied myself all these years. I have really dedicated a lot to the military and I think it's due time I gave something meaningful to myself.

Secondly, I must apologize for the inconveniences/mishap this mail might cause you. However, at the same time I am contacting you because I have an urgent need to invest some funds amounting to $18.5Million (Eighteen million five hundred thousand United state dollars) into lucrative business. This fund in question was realized from series of Oil deals I had with some Arab Oil and Gold Merchants here. I have been searching for a reliable and trustworthy person that would be my partner in receiving the fund whenever it is transferred to Europe. I have made every necessary arrangement to transfer the fund to Europe through diplomatic courier means; that is to package the fund in a diplomatic vault and transported as cargo with the Red Cross jet.

We as uniformed men are not allowed to parade such amount of money in service. It breaches the code of conduct in the military Laws, especially when such a soldier is on deployment. I have been in Afghanistan for 3 years and the war and pressure here is getting tougher and the tension is increasingly rising here in the Middle East. The money is right now protected under the diplomatic custody of the Red Cross. The Red Cross director here is my friend and he is part of the business. He kindly accepted to save my money under the diplomatic security of the Red Cross until I appoint someone as the beneficiary using their contact to transfer the money and the money shall be released to the person with ease.

The War and pressure here is getting tougher and the tension is increasingly rising. So I want to get the fund transferred out of here as soon as possible. I am a married man with two lovely daughters who are barely 9yrs and 11yrs old respectively. Moreover, I would like to invest part of the fund in real lucrative business which you will direct me on since I am not a business person. In fact, I pray to locate a reliable person who can be very trustworthy and sincere to receive the fund and handle the deal for me without mischievous thoughts.

I require a great trust and sincerity from you because if anything happens to me, you shall take care of my family especially my two daughters whom I shall also make partners in my agreement with you.

If perhaps interested, ensure to let me know so as to enable us further proceed as time is of great essence to me. I'm afraid; I cannot send you a phone number, owing to the fact that we do not use mobile phones here. I wait for your contact details, thus enabling us move into action. In less than seven working days, the money ought to be in your possession. I shall offer you 30% of the sum, 10% will be given to the Charitable Organization and 60% is for my investment interest, as you would agree with me nothing goes for nothing, I hope I seem fair enough to you for your kind assistance as my receiving partner.

Revert back to me in a timely manner with your personal email address because of the confidentiality of this business. Once again I would like this top Secret to remain highly confidential between you and I for security reasons.

I wait for your contact details so we can go on. In less than 5days the money should have been noted on your account and I will come over for my money.

Kind regards,
Capt. Miller Peterson

Anti-fraud resources: