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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: "H. KARAM." <idea59@myfairpoint.net>
Reply-To: oscar_ezeh@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 22:59:18 +0300
Subject: PLEASE READ CAREFULLY


- This mail is in HTML. Some elements may be ommited in plain text. -

Confidant,
I am Mrs. Hajar Karam a citizen of Kuwait but currently residing in the United Kingdom. I was married to Late Farooq Karam of blessed memory who was an oil explorer in Kuwait and Angola for twelve years before he died in the year 2009. We were married for twelve years without a child; he died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Since his death I too have been battling with both Diabetes and fibroid cases. When my late Husband was alive he deposited a substantial amount of money worth US$25.5Million with a bank in the United Kingdom which I inherited after his death.

Recently, my doctor told me that I have less than two months to live due to my ailment. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to either a charity/orphanage home or devoted Allah (God) fearing individual who can utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want this organization or individual to use this money in all sincerity to fund charity homes (motherless homes), orphanages, and widows. I took this decision because I don?t have any child who can inherit this fund and my husbands relatives are into radical organization and coupled with the fact that non of them have cared for me ever since my husband's death and I wouldn't want a situation where this fund would be used in an unholy manner, hence the reasons for this bold decision. Please, pray for me to recover as your prayers can always go a long way in uplifting my spirit.

I would like the fund to be well utilized in the below manner:
60% GOES FOR CHARITY
30% GOES TO YOU AND
10% GOES TO OUR FAMILY LAWYER

I don?t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health condition which has seriously affected my speech and also because of the presence of my husband?s relatives around me always. I don?t want them to know about this development because they are only waiting upon my final breath (death) to claim/share the applicable fund.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you further directives on what to do and how to go about actualizing this project. I will also instruct my lawyer to file an application on your behalf to the bank where the fund is deposited to be wired to your designated bank account for this purpose. I want you to always pray for me. Any delay in your reply may give room to sourcing for another person/body.

Until I hear from you,my dreams will rest squarely on your shoulders.
Remain blessed,
Mrs. Hajar Karam

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