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 Maxwell David <office.file399@yahoo.fr>
Reply-To: <mrmaxwell.david@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 07:17:31 +0100
Subject: Dear Partner,

Dear Partner,

CAN I TRUST YOU WITH $29.8 MILLION USD ?
Please treat this message with every seriousness and confidentiality my
name is Maxwell David, I'm the Principal Attorney for Goshen Chamber and
private lawyer to late Engineer Alan Jackman your country's National and
Civil Engineer/Contractor who worked with the Asturiana DE Zinc S.A. in
Spain for thirteen years.
On 11th March 2004, my client lost his life alongside his wife,
daughter and several others in the tragic terrorist bomb blast in
Madrid, Spain .Please visit this webpage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3500452.stm for a detailed information on the
incident.
Before My Client's death, he owned and operated an account valued at
$29.800, 000, 00 USD (Twenty Nine Million, Eight Hundred Thousand United
States Dollars) with a bank here in Benin Republic. Ever since then, as
the family Attorney and friend I have made several inquires to locate
any of my client's extended relatives but this has proved unsuccessful.
This afternoon, the bank issued me another notice (the third and final)
to provide his relative or have the account confiscated within the next
10 bank working days. As I have been unsuccessful in locating his
immediate relatives for over 6 years, I hereby seek your consent in
order to present you to the bank as a distant relative to the deceased,
the proceeds of this account shall be transferred to any of your
nominated bank account for us to share 45% for you, 45% for me and 10%
for any expenses or taxes as your home Government may require
All I require is your honest cooperation and I guarantee that this will
be executed under a legal and legitimate arrangement that will protect
us from any breach of the law in the near or distant future. I have a
reputation as a seasoned Attorney to protect and will not allow any
loopholes in this transaction.
This transaction is 100% risk free as I have every document/information
and will arrange any other document that will assist your/our claims in
order to facilitate the release of the funds to you/us
Please carefully go through this proposal line by line and if you have
honestly made up your mind to partner with me, kindly reply via my below
private email or fax with your full names, address and private telephone
number as soon as you receive this message. Please be free to ask any
questions.
I await your sincere response urgently; here is my private email
address:mrmaxwell.david@yahoo.co.uk

Yours sincerely,
Mr Maxwell David
Barrister, Solicitor & Notary Public
Goshen Chamber
Pau, U22, No 367, Unite Vain Parcelles United Kindom.
E-mail.mrmaxwell.david@yahoo.co.uk

Anti-fraud resources: