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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: "Ken Williams" <willykfma@yandex.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 02:59:18 -0800
Subject: Good Day Help Pls,!

Good Day,

I plead your forgiveness over my unconventional approach to
you regarding this matter, It is with trust and confidence
that i write to make this urgent business proposal to you,
please treat it like a blood brother affair. I contacted you
to seek for your assistance to assist me in providing a
convenient foreign account in any designated bank abroad for
the transfer of US$25,000,000.00 (Twenty-five Million
Dollars) pending on my arrival in your country for
utilization and disbursement with you.

>From a deliberate inflation of the value of a contract
awarded by our ministry - the Federal Ministry of
agriculture (F.M.A) here in Nigeria to an expatriate
company. The contract has been executed and payment made to
the original contractor, remaining the over-invoiced amount
of US$25 million us dollars which i want to transfer out of
the country in my favor for disbursement between me and you,
the transfer of this money can only be possible with the
help of a foreigner who will be presented as the beneficiary
of the fund. As government officials, we are not allowed to
operate foreign accounts, and this is the reason why I
decided to contact you.

I have agreed that if you/your company can act as the
beneficiary of this fund (US$25 Million). It will be
transferred into your account and you will retain 30% of the
total amount for your assistance, while
70% will be reserved for me. I hereby solicit for your
assistance in providing a convenient account number in a
designated bank where this fund would be transferred. I
intend coming over there on the
completion of this transfer to secure our share of the
money. Please note that I have been careful and have made
all arrangements towards the success and smooth transfer of
the fund to your account before contacting you.

For security reasons and confidentiality of this
transaction, I demand that you should not expose this
proposal and the entire transaction to anybody. I have put
in so much trust in you with the hope that you would not
betray me or sit on this money when it is finally
transferred into your account. Is rest assured that this
transaction is 100% risk free? If this proposal is
acceptable to you, indicate your interest urgently by
contacting immediately.More details about this transaction
will be given to you as soon as I receive your positive
response.

Note that the particular nature of your company's business
is irrelevant to this transaction, If this transaction
interests you, your urgent response will be appreciated.
Yours faithfully,

Ken Williams KJ
Audit/Account Department
Federal Ministry of Agriculture (F.M.A )

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