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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: "Theresa Clay" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <contacttheresaclay@inbox.lv>
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2015 17:18:47 +0200
Subject: R e R e s p o n d A S A P

Hello Beloved One,

I got your detailed contact information from your country’s public archive while searching for any possible relative to my late client Engineer William «lastname» prior to my further explanations; I must apologize greatly for the unsolicited mail as it is certainly an unprofessional way of approach to foster a relationship of trust. The late Engineer William «lastname» was a business magnate who was living in Spain prior to a tragedy that took his life and that of his immediate family.

In bid to locate a family member of my late client, I decided to broaden my search through bureau of international public records to locate any member of the extended family; hence I saw your name. I know you may not be biologically related to them, but since you both bear the same surname which is the basic requirement for this claim in line with the existing law here in the kingdom of Spain I decided to contact you to enable us to retrieve this deposit of my late client from the safe keeping and investment company here in Spain.

Before the mayhem that claimed their lives, my late client’s family deposited a Trunk box containing $6,800,000.00 (Six Million, Eight Hundred Thousand United State Dollars) with the safe keeping and Investment Company here. And as attorney to the deceased family the above company has mandated me to present the heir/inheritor to make claim or the deposit will be confiscated and taken to the Bureau of local treasury as unclaimed.

Based on the aforementioned situation I am obliged to solicit your attention to my proposal; this is by virtue of its nature as been utterly confidential and personal. Though I am aware of the fact that a request of this magnitude might make one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that all be well at the end of the day. With regards to this, I seek your consent to present you as the heir/inheritor to the deceased family to the company, upon this the deposit will be released to you after a due legal process and my suggestion is that the entire content will be further disbursed on equal ratio between us.

As a practicing attorney all I require from you is your honest co-operation and collaboration to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this transaction would be executed under strict legitimate arrangement that will protect us from any breach of the law and legal risk. For further questions or clarification you can get across to me via email as well include your phone line for our brief discussion before we proceed.

Best regards,

Theresa Clay (Miss)

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