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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.

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

Fraud email example:

From: "John Badu" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnsonsbadu@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:01:00 -0700
Subject: MY LIFE

My sincere greetings to you,
My name is John Badu,I am a 48 year old Nigeria but I am presently incarcerated , serving a life jail sentence in Malaysia for possession of hard drugs in 2005 . I must confess to you i am a drug trafficker and i have made a lot of money through the illicit business.
Before i was apprehended in Malaysia,I had deposited the chunk of the money which amounts to about $15,000,000(Fifteen Million US dollars) in a safe keeping vault in my local bank account in Nigeria before i made my final trip which i was consequently apprehended and facing the trial.
I hope to be released out of the prisons someday but meanwhile i am writing you regarding the above mentioned amount of money which i left dormant in my local bank account in Nigeria.
This is more than 8 years since i l have been in the prisons here in Nigeria and automatically the money i left in the bank may have been regarded as abandoned and in such case the bank may seize the opportunity to converting the money to their use.
This is my hard earned money and i do not want it to be wasted that way.This is the major reason why i am contacting you.I am contacting you so you may contact the bank and claim the ownership of the fund.
However inside the prison i have realized my offenses and have given my life to CHRIST JESUS.I am writing you as a true born again Christian and i wish to let you know that i got your contact through a world's Christian journal.
I want you to use the money for charity or building a rehabilitation center for other affected people in the society. This is a way to show my remorse to my sin and the negative impact i must have created in the lives of those people who use my drugs. I have supplied drugs to almost every parts of the world until I was apprehended.
I am not afraid to die because i know that i have received Christ as my personal Lord and savior but all i am asking you is to accept the money and use it for charity and to care for the less privileges.
That way i feel i will be forgiven by God and humanity.
So i will like you to respond back to me and let me know if you are willing to do this and i will direct you to the bank in Nigeria where you will receive the money.
I am eagerly hoping to hear from you.Kindly reply me on my private email:johnsonsbadu@hotmail.com
Sincerely
John Badu

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