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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: Bruce John <brucejohn222@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 07:27:30 -0800
Subject: VERY URGENT


I know you will receive my message as a surprise but please take your time
to read carefully. My name is Dr.Bruce John,i am a medical doctor by
profession,but i am currently working on a contract with the US ARMY here
in a country called Syria.I am from United States.I have a project which i
want to run with you now and i can assure you that you must benefit from
it.I really need some one i could confide in.Please,can you be trusted?I am
in camp here to treat the injured soldiers as a Professional medical
doctor.

I have summon courage to present you to a bank where i deposited some money
some years back in Republic of Ghana when i went together with the US ARMY
for a rescue operation near one of Ghana top politician, so that we will
contact the bank and they will transfer the fund to your account over there
in your country and i will come to meet you as soon as i am through with my
contract here in a country called Syria.Some money in various currencies
was discovered and concealed in barrels with piles of weapons and
ammunition at a location near one of Ghana top politician during a rescue
operation and it was agreed by all party present that the money Be shared
amongst us because the Taliban want to use the money to purchase arms.....

I have a total deposit of $7,500,000,00 Million Dollars with the bank in
Republic of Ghana and i will offer you 30% of the total fund if you can
receive the fund for me. I want you to know that i have all the legal
document to back this transfer till you receive the fund over there.This
might appear as an illegal thing to do but I tell you what? No compensation
can make up for the risks we have taken with our lives in this hellhole.The
above figure was given to me as my share and i deposited the money over
there in a country called Republic of Ghana.

You should not bother yourself at all regard to the finances of this
transaction as i has already disused with the assistant manager of the bank
and he assured me that he will connect us to a loan company that will help
us and sponsor the transaction to the end.I mean you should not worry your
self about the upfront fee because the assistant manger will connect us to
a financier and they will loan us any money the bank might need before they
transfer the fund...All i need is your trust and also to keep this
transaction between me and you.Contact me back as soon as you read this
message so that i will send to you the deposit certificate of this fund,my
passport and my pictures.

You may be wondering why I choose to trust a delicate matter like this in
your care, but this is the best I can do in my present situation as i have
lost my parents and i am the only child of my parents. I would have trusted
this kind of project in the hands of my ex wife who was my closest
confidant,but she divorced me some years ago ,hence my decision to work
with you if we can establish some trust between ourselves instead of
confiding in my buddies back home so that this little secret can be
preserved.

The assistant manager of the bank assured me that he will do all that is
necessary to ensure the successful and smooth transfer of this fund to your
account,so you do not need to be scared or afraid of anything. All that is
required of you is your consent to present you to the bank as the rightful
beneficiary of the said fund hence I cannot put claim over the funds as i
am still on my contract here in Syria.

I want you to know that the main reason why i really need this fund to be
transferred to your account is because the bank have instructed all their
foreign customers to claim their fund because their general auditing is at
hand and i should not blame them if any thing happen to my fund because the
fund has been deposited for years now...Kindly contact me back for more
explanation about this transaction....IT IS IMPORTANT.

please never you abandon my message just because i never meet you for the
first time, but I want to assure you that I am of a clean heart that is in
desperately in need of assistance....Waiting for your urgent reply.

Thanks

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