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: sara david <sar_david888@hotmail.fr>
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 07:40:19 +0000
Subject: Dear Lovely One,


Dear Lovely One,

I am writing to seek your partnership in the
investment of my inheritance fund USD$7.5M from my late father who died
mysteriously last year:. It was very evident that he was poisoned to
death. In my culture, when a man dies, if he does not have a male child,
the brothers shares his property leaving both the wife and the
daughters empty handed including the house they live in. This is the
exact case with me as I am the only daughter of my father. I lost my
mother when I was barely a year old and my father refused to re-marry
another wife because he felt solely responsible for my mother's death.

This
is so because he concentrated much on his businesses that he rarely
pays attention to domestic affairs. He was always travelling taking care
of his businesses that he did not notice when my mother took ill. He
thought it was a minor illness and was ignorant of this. My mother on
her own resorted to self-medication. It was not until the illness
degenerated that my father took my mother to hospital where she was
diagnosed to find out that hypatitis had eaten deep into her blood
stream. She didn't last long before she died. This happened when I was
barely a year old. Based on this, my father could not forgive himself
easily because of it and said he was responsible for her death as he
could have saved her if only he had paid attention to the things at home
rather than concentrating much on his businesses.

Despite all
entreaties by friends and relatives, he refused to remarry but ensured
that I had everything that I wanted. It was as a result of this that he
made me the next of kin to his fund deposit with the bank and stated
that in the event of any eventuality, I should have a direct access to
the fund only when I am 24 years of age otherwise, I should have a
guardian/partner intercede on my behalf for the release of the funds to
me.
Unfortunately, he died late last year and I am 21 years of age
currently. This is why I have contacted you to serve as a guardian to me
and as my foreign partner for the investment of the fund overseas My
uncles does not know about the fund because they had already taken my
father's houses and other properties because I am a girl and they said I
do not have rights for any property. They have requested to have
my father's bank papers but I simply told them that I do not know where he kept them.

The
younger brother took the house in the village while the houses in the
town were sold out they shared the proceed they got from the sale. Right
now, I am with a friend of mine and do sincerely want to travel out of
my country. This can only happen when I have secured the release and
transfer of the funds in the bank. This why it is important that we have
a plan on the type of lucrative business that we can invest the funds
on.

I had at various times had discussions with the director of
international remittance unit of the bank where my father deposited the
funds and I was assured that once, I have someone who would be willing
to receive the funds on my behalf, they shall commence all proceedings
to effect the release and transfer of the funds into the person's
designated account. Now, that you have signified your interest to
partner with me,
it would only be very necessary if you contact the
bank and request for the release and transfer of my inheritance fund
into your nominated account for the purpose of investment and to further
have me come over to your country to continue with my studies.

I shall be giving you the bank's contact details as soon as I hear from you so that you will go ahead and contact the bank.

Talk to you the more.

Sara David

Anti-fraud resources: