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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.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

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

Fraud email example:

From: "Kenneth Harry" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kennethharrychambers@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2014 14:58:59 -0500
Subject: From Kenneth Harry

>From Kenneth Harry
London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44-701-297-6549
 
Hello,
Let me begin by introducing myself well to you. It may surprise you receiving this letter from me, since there was no previous correspondence between us. My name is Kenneth Harry. I am an attorney .
I am contacting  you to help  get the money left behind by my client, to avoid
it  confiscated or declared usable by the Bank.
The Bank has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin or the account will be reported and available funds diverted to the Bank Treasury , all my efforts to get a hold of someone related to this man has proved  abortive. That’s why I am contacting you.
I'm actually asking your consent to present to the Bank as the next of kin / beneficiary of my late client funds, because you have the same name, so that the  money  ($25.5 million dollars) will be transferred to your  account , and then we share the funds in a mutual agreement on the basis of percentage.
 
Any legal documentation to support your claim as my client next of kin will be provided. All I need is your honest cooperation to enable us achieve this transaction. The transaction will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.
However, if this business proposition offends your moral ethics, to accept my sincere apologies.
If instead you want to achieve this goal with me, kindly get back to me with your interest for further explanations:
Tel: +44-701-297-6549
 
Regards
 
Kenneth Harry

Anti-fraud resources: