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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: "Mattie Jean" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <r.j2mattei@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 13:06:06 -0000
Subject: Re: You have a message from Linda

Hello Dearest

Good morning to you. Please permit my email. I have come across your contact email address through my late father's international business directory on the internet and i decided to contact you to give out my trust to you. It is true that i do not know you in person and we have not seen each other before but i pray that you have it in your heart to assist me with all sincerity and honesty. My name is Linda Lagu. I am 16 years old. I am from Republic of South Sudan. I am now an orphan as a result of the death of my parents and three siblings. My parents and three of my siblings were victims of the present crisis going on in my country. My parents were brutally killed along side my three siblings by the members of a rebel group. It was a very sad incident and an unbearable lost to me. May there soul rest in perfect peace. I want to relocate to your peaceful country and I would want you to be my new guardian in your country.

After the death of my parents and three siblings i had to ran out of my country to a refugee mission camp in a neighbouring country Burkina Faso just to safe my own life. I was going through my late father's important documents in his briefcase and i saw a bank document about a deposit of money he made in Ivory Coast where he was doing petrol and Gas business. The amount in the bank document is three million five hundred thousand dollars. Now I have succeeded in locating the bank where my late father deposited the money here in Ivory Coast and have also identified my self properly and also informed them about the sad fate my parents had suffered. The bank confirmed the deposit document and said that my late father deposited the money in their bank escrow transit account.

Since i want to finally relocate to your peaceful country for safety of my life so that i can be able to further my education and also invest this money under your guardianship, I would want you to assist me and receive this money in your bank account. I am constrained to contact you to plead your understanding so that i can present your name to the bank as my guardian and my late father's overseas business partner so that the bank can contact you officially for the transfer of the money to your bank account. You will help me stand as my late father's overseas business partner and guardian so that it will be easy for the bank to release and transfer the money to your bank account.

I have asked the bank the possibility of transferring the money to a country of my choice and the bank agreed to release and transfer the money abroad if i introduce my guardian or my late father's business partner who can attest and sign for the release of the money as stated in the depository agreement my late father signed with their bank when the money was deposited. I am presently taking refuge in a Catholic Church here in Ivory Coast. I need your urgent response to assist me and receive this money in your bank account. After receiving the money in your bank account you will invest it properly in your company or any profitable business and also manage the investment until i am capable.

Please if you can assist me with all sincerity and honesty and also help me to secure a stay in your country to further my education then you can send your contact information that the bank can use to contact you so that i can make your name available to the bank as my late father's overseas business partner and guardian that will attest on my behalf for the release of the money. I am willing to give you any amount which you will wish to have after helping me achieve my dream of relocating to your peaceful country with this money. I hope with your adverse experience i can have the money successfully transferred to your peaceful country and i will have a better life to live in your country under your guardianship. Thank you and May God bless you and your family as you help me achieve my dream of relocating to your country to start a new life and further my education under your guardianship. Please, this information should be confidential because of my security and the security of the money.

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