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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: "Jennifer April Ahsan." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jennifer_ahsan@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 12:40:37 +0100
Subject: Attn, 27/06/2014

Dearest,

My name is Jennifer April Ahsan, I am an account officer in Barclays Bank here in the United Kingdom. I am contacting you for a very beneficial business of a huge sum of money from a deceased account. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that everything has been well taken care of and all will be well at the end of the day.

I am the account officer of a foreigner who died in an auto crash along with his wife and children on the 31st October 2005. Upon this discovery, I now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of kin to the deceased because you bear the same last name with him and to claim the funds he deposited in our bank worth Eight million, Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling (8,500,000.00).

Therefore, it is on this note I decided to seek for whom his name shall be used as the next of kin/beneficiary to this funds rather than allow the bank directors to share this money among themselves at the end of the year.

Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavor by responding to this letter. I shall be compensating you with 40% of the total sum on conclusion of this project for your assistance. Do not take undue advantage of the trust I have bestowed in you by informing you of this transaction from my bank, as I will advise you to kindly desist from responding at all if you do NOT intend to render any assistance.

Thanks and best regards,
Jennifer April Ahsan.
Private Tel: +447404519300
E-mail: jenniferahsanprivate@accountant.com

Anti-fraud resources: