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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: "bezeqint.net" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <jeffdukes01@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 22:00:11 +0300
Subject: PLEASE CLARIFY!!!?

Hello,
My name is Mr. John Francis, director of operations Bnc. I have a business proposal for you. A client of my bank, Muammar Abu Meniar el-Gaddafi who was the Libyan leader before his death left a valued deposit of Eighteen million Five Hundred Thousand Euros only in my branch. Upon maturity, several notices were sent to his sons who are now facing trial with Libyan government and International Criminal Court in The Hague.
 
Upon my investigation it was discovered that Muammar Abu Meniar el-Gaddafi did not declare any next of kin in his official papers on his files. One of his financial assistant also confided in me the last time he was in my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in our bank. Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you to stand as the next of kin to Muammar Abu Meniar el-Gaddafi so that you will be able to receive his funds to purchase some property from your company.
 
There is no risk involved as regards to this matter as we are going to adopt a legal method and an attorney will prepare all the necessary documents. Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been transferred to your nominated bank account we shall share in the ratio of 70% for us, 25% for you, and 5% for any expenses incurred during the course of the operation. Should you be interested please send me your full names and current address with your contact phone numbers for more details.
Regards,
John Francis Dukes.

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