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: Finance Ministerstate <financeminister_statesession4@yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2015 16:19:11 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: GOOD NEWS/ TRANSFER OF ( USD$21. 7 MILLION DOLLARS )


Mr. Novitcha GbegameyFrom Bank AtlanticCotonou,Republique du Benin.
Happy new year to you, i am Mr. Novitcha Gbegamey,working with the Bank Atlantic as the senior supervisor in accounting/auditing department of our bank. i have decided to contact you through this medium based on a business proposal,which will be of mutual benefit to both of us. i know this might sound like scam to you because there are lots of activities going on in the internet today.But I assure you that this one is real.
I was the account officer to one of our late customer,a citizen of your country, who used to work with an oil servicing company here in the republic of Benin,the late customer made a numbered time (fixed) deposits for 8 years, valued at us $21.7million (Twenty One Million Seven  Hundred Thousand USD) in my branch. Upon maturity, we sent aroutine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply.After a month, we sent another reminder and finally discovered from his contract employers,that the customer died in an automobile accident, along with all the members of his family.
On further investigation, i found out that he did not leave a will an all attempts to trace his next of kin were fruitless.This sum of ($21.7 million USD) is still sitting in the bank and no one has come forward to claim it. Accordingly too the banking and financial regulations here provides that at the expiration of 8(Eight)years, that such money will revert to the ownership of the Benin government if nobody applies to claim the funds. Subsequently, by the end of this month the account will be confiscated if nobody comes to claim the fund, and I therefore seek your cooperation so as to present you to the bank as the only available and traceable next of kin to the deceased customer.
In order for us to achieve success in this transaction, you ar required to observe utmostconfidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be profitable for both of us because I shall require your assistance to my share for investment in your country.In your return mail, please do forward me your following information if you are willing to complete this deal with me, to enable me put the total fund in your name for claim as the next of kin to the deceased person:
Your full names:.......Your contact address:......Your phone number:.........Your age:......Profession:.........Private email account:........
Send it to my private E-mail: ( gbegameymrnovitcha@gmail.com )
Awaiting your urgent reply.
Best Regards,Mr. Novitcha Gbegamey.




Anti-fraud resources: