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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: "John Reynolds" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <j.rey1@techie.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:19:40 -0000
Subject: PAYMENT SOLUTION

Hello,

I would like to express our concen with respect to your unclaimed funds currently held in the United Kingdom. Please don't lose hope yet, I have got a final solution to your payment delay.

My name is John Reynolds, I am an auditor and a licensed fiduciary agent certified by the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA ) a financial regulatory agency of the Bank of England. My Colleagues and I have been assigned by the FCA to audit all unclaimed financial transactions in banks, other financial institutions and security companies within the United Kingdom in order to sanitize the financial services sector and enhance international debt settlement. My audit assignment includes investigation of all unclaimed financial transactions held by some banks, legitimate inheritance proceeds which are yet to be claimed, unclaimed lottery winnings, unliquidated financial instruments, unclaimed contract payments and returned consignment by diplomats held in banks within this jurisdiction.

During the assignment, I discovered that you are a beneficiary of an unclaimed fund currently held in a private bank in the UK which was at the point of confiscation by the UK government due to its unclaimed nature. The said fund valued at US$2,750,000 was legitimately acquired and earmarked in your name as the authorized beneficiary. You were contacted about this payment in the past but thought it was a scam and you ignored the funds claim offer due to heavy pollution of the internet with fraudulent proposals. I had tried to report the unclaimed fund in your name to the FCA as UNSERVICEABLE which would make it forfeitable by the agency since we couldn't find a direct telephone number to reach you for further inquiry concerning the payment. Your contact address and other vital information on file in our care has been altered but I found your email address on the Bank's central information database and I have decided to contact you directly concerning your unclaimed fund.

The Financial Conduct Authority had fixed all loop holes to prevent scam and extortion at any stage of your fund release once you comply with the paying bank's directives. My activities are being monitored by the regulatory agency for proper conduct and I am not allowed to demand for any fee from you before your endorsement for funds remittance by their accredited paying bank in the United Kingdom. All I would appreciate from you is a written promise that once your payment gets credited into your bank account, 10% of the released funds would be advanced to me as compensation for helping you to facilitate prompt release of your long expected payment.

As soon as you respond back to me and agree with my conditions, I would proceed immediately by fixing your name on the cleared beneficiaries list which would enable the paying authority issue an irrevocable funds transfer instruction to their accredited bank for immediate transfer of your funds into your designated bank account. If you are still communicating with anyone about your unclaimed payment before you got this message, kindly suspend further communication with such person to avoid complicating your chances of your funds collection.

If you have any question that needs clarification do not hesitate to ask me in your reply.

Regards.

John Reynolds.

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