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: Richard Edward Varden <farfgafi@gmail.com>
Reply-To: re_varden@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 13:44:20 +0100
Subject: IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Hello Dear,

I am Mr. Richard Edward Varden, I am the head of audit department of
AIB bank, Isle of Man UK. I had taken pains to find your contact
through a random web search.On a routine audit check last month, I
discovered some investment accounts that had been dormant for the past
ten years. One of the accounts belong to Mr.John Winter to the tune of
35.5 Million British pounds

Now banking regulation/legislation in the UK demands that I do notify
the fiscal authorities after a statutory time span of ten years when
dormant accounts of this type are called in by the UK Monetary
Regulatory bodies. My investigations of the said account reveals that
the investor, had died in December, 2004, the exact time the account
was last operated. I can confirm with certainty that the said investor
died intestate and no next of kin to his estate has been found or has
come forward all these years.

I am of the settled conviction that using my insider leverage, I
working with you can secure the funds in the account for us instead of
allowing it pass as unclaimed funds into the coffers of the Government
of the UK. I am seized with all relevant documents (legal and Banking)
that will facilitate our putting you forward as the
claimant/beneficiary of the funds and ultimately transfer the money to
an account to be nominated by you. Of course you shall be handsomely
rewarded for your part in this transaction as the people I am working
with are prepared to allocate a 40% slice of the total funds for your
efforts.

I shall however leave out further details of this transaction till I
receive a confirmation of your desire to participate.Be rest assured
that I am on top of the situation all the time and there will be no
risk whatsoever if you decide to come on board.I do expect your prompt
response.

Yours Sincerely,
Richard Edward Varden

Anti-fraud resources: