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: "Mr. Philip Palmer" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <philippalmer2007@outlook.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:08:31 -0500
Subject: Hello

Dear Friend,

I work with a Diplomatic Corp that holds special and valuable consignments for reputable clients that are honest and trustworthy. We work in collaboration with top firms all over the world as we have earned a name as a service whose hallmarks in reliability and confidentiality are revered. International missions, Diplomats, Embassies of the world have used our services to satisfaction. A benefactor has mandated me to get someone that can assist her and her family in retrieving her package containing some amount of money from a diplomatic corp and also in the security company. The benefactor and her children have been confined only to their country home and all their calls and movements are monitored, as a result, its absolutely impossible for them to do anything as regards retrieving the money. Their only means of communication is via internet and you are being contacted because your assistance is needed in claiming the funds on their behalf. The amount
was accrued from Diamond sales over a period of six years and it’s USD14.5M.

These funds are fully free of any liens or encumbrances and are clean, clear and has no criminal origin. The funds have nothing to do with any form of illegality and all documentations needed to prove the source of the funds were submitted when the funds were being deposited and these documents would prove the source of the funds and authenticate the fact that the funds are clean and has no links whatsoever with either drugs or terrorism.

For your assistance in this transaction, the benefactor and her Children have agreed to give you 30% of the total amount of money and this role simply entails retrieving the funds on their behalf from the Diplomat and also in a security company and all the information needed to claim the funds would be sent to you as soon as you indicate your interest in assisting them as well as providing the following information to facilitate the smooth conclusion of the transaction.

1) Your Full Name and Age: ___________________________
2) Your Address and Occupation:_______________________________
3) Your Telephone Number:_______________________
_4) Your Fax Number: __________________________
5) Your Mobile Number:_____________________________
6) The Name of the Closest Airport to your City of Residence:_______________

I await your response urgently.

With trust,

Mr. Philip Palmer

Anti-fraud resources: