joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Raymond Briggs" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <briggos2000@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 23:33:25 -0700
Subject: New Message

Dear Friend,
It is indeed my pleasure to write you this letter, which I believe will be a surprise to you, as we have never met before. I actually got your e-mail address while searching the internet for someone to handle this transaction.I am Raymond Briggs.  I have worked as a personal assistant to Mr Kim Changho, now deceased, who died aboard Korean Air Flight 801, that crashed in Guam in 1997. Please do not disregard this mail and for avoidance of doubt you can verify this with the British High Commission in your country or visit http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9708/06/guam.passenger.list/, as posted by CNN
He died, leaving behind a deposit investment of fourteen million, five hundred and fifty thousand pounds (£14,550,000.00) with a bank in the United Kingdom. I have made intense but futile efforts to locate any possible next of kin to come forward to claim his estate. This investigation has been unfruitful. I have scanned everywhere without any real success. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture.Mr Kim Changho died without leaving a will. I am prepared to put you forward as the next of kin and the deposit released to you as the closest surviving relation. I am therefore seeking your consent to present you as the next-of-kin to enable us apply for the release of the money, before the money gets confiscated.
I am prepared to share the money with you in the ratio of 50/50. This will not be too difficult, counting on the fact that I will be on hand to guarantee that the funds is released to you.
If you are interested, then send me the following: 1) Your full name 2) Contact address  3) Telephone number/fax number 4) Age
Please reply urgently by email or fax. As soon as I receive your information I will provide you with the requisite documents that you will send to the bank to enable you claim the funds.
Sincerely,
Raymond Briggs
1005 Weston Street,
London SE1 3QD.
Fax: +44 844 774 4522

Anti-fraud resources: