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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: "Jeffrey Fitzgerald" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <philiphang@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2015 03:32:00 -0700
Subject: Jeffrey Fitzgerald & Associates 30/06/2015

JEFFREY FITZGERALD & ASSOCIATES L.L.C
Attorney Jeff Fitzgerald
(Will, Finance & Probate Solicitors
Lewisham High Street) 
London United Kingdom
Please Strictly reply only to ( philiphang@qq.com )
 
To Whom It May Concern,
 
I know that this mail will come to you as a surprise, Please accept the content in good faith. I do not intend to
 
cause any grief to you and your family. The reason for sending this mail is very fundamental to the doctrine of
 
human privileges and right. My name is Barrister JEFFREY FITZGERALD a legal practitioner based in London and the
 
personal Attorney to late Mr. Adam, who died along with his wife and two sons in the Tube explosion between King's
 
Cross-and Russell Square in London.
 
My client was a successful and an accomplished family man, who made  a lot fortune before his untimely death. Since
 
then I had made several inquiries through your Embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives but this
 
exercise has proved unsuccessful and after several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives through
 
the Internet, to locate any member of his family, not much progress was recorded.
 
My late client was a wealthy businessman, an oil magnet here in London and he left behind a deposit of Nine Million
 
Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only US$9,500,000.00 (USD) in his domiciliary bank account in a
 
commercial bank here in London and after the death of my client his bankers contacted me, as his Attorney to provide
 
his next of kin who should inherit his funds. The board of directors of his bank adopted a resolution and I was
 
mandated to provide his next of kin for the payment of this money within 28 bank Working days or forfeit the fund to
 
the Government as an unclaimed fund. The bankers had planned to invoke the abandoned fund/property decree of 1996 to
 
confiscate the funds after the expiration of the period given to me.
 
Fortunately, I came across your name, to my greatest astonishment, I discovered that you bear the same surname with
 
my late client and coincidentally, you are national of the same country. Being convinced that you may be related
 
with my late client or that you might provide clue to my search, I therefore, decided to contact with these facts
 
before me, because of the similarities. By virtue of my closeness to the deceased and his immediate family, I am
 
very much aware of my client financial standing and the bank account he operates.It works like this. Upon filing the
 
application, the bank shall process it and then contact you direct with their decision to award or not to award the
 
deposit to you and if they accept, they would be informing you on how the payment shall be made to you. I shall be
 
using my position here to provide the entire legal requirement that is needed. The necessary legal papers would be
 
procured to back it up and convince the bank that you are qualified as the next of kin.
 
A copy of all the documents obtained shall be sent to you for your perusal I must state at this point that it is
 
unethical and against the profession for me to be seeking you and also feel that I owe this to my client. I stand to
 
be disrobed if I am found out but I am trusting you believing that you can keep the issue of my contacting first to
 
yourself till this transaction is concluded and I come to meet you. The whole process shall take about 10 working
 
days or less from the day we officially file the application. I have reasoned very professionally and I feel it will
 
be legally proper to present you as the next of kin of my deceased client, so that you can be paid the funds left in
 
his bank account.
 
I therefore seek your consent to present you as the Next of Kin to the Deceased since you are at an advantage,
 
bearing the same surname and equally from the same country that the proceeds of this Bank Account valued at
 
$9,500,000.00 (USD) can be paid to you. We shall both share the funds. 55% for you and 40% for me, while 5% should
 
be set aside for Expenses each way. I shall assemble all the necessary Legal Documents that will be used to back up
 
our claim. All I require is your honesty, co-operation and sincerity to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee
 
that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of law.
 
Your swift response is anticipated.
 
Yours Truly
JEFFREY FITZGERALD & ASSOCIATES L.L.C
Attorney Jeff Fitzgerald
(Will, Finance & Probate Solicitors
Lewisham High Street) 
London United Kingdom
 

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