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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: =?UTF-8?B?IlBldGVyIER3ZWxsIg==?= <peterdwell@terra.com.co>
Date:
Subject:



















Attn:

My name is Attorney Peter Dwell a legal practitioner based in London United=
Kingdom and the personal attorney to late Mr. Randolph Marriott, a Foreign=
National who died along with his wife and two sons in a robbery attack in =
their settlement home in London United Kingdom. My client was a successful =
and an accomplished family man who made enough fortune before his untimely =
death. Since then I have made several inquiries through his Embassy to loca=
te any of his extended relatives but this exercise has proved unsuccessful.=
After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives to l=
ocate any member of his family, not much progress was recorded.

Mr. Randolph Marriott was an influential wealthy businessman, an Oil/Gas bu=
siness magnet here in London United Kingdom and he left behind a deposit of=
=C2=A319.7 Million (Nineteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling=
) in his domiciliary bank account in a commercial bank here in London Unite=
d Kingdom. After the death of Randolph Marriott, his bankers contacted me a=
s 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 these funds or forfeit the money=
to the bank as an abandoned property. The bankers had planned to invoke th=
e abandoned property decree of 1996 to confiscate the funds after the expir=
ation of the period given to me.

Fortunately, in the verge of my search, I came across your name through a c=
onsultancy firm of Commerce & Industry that provided me with your reputable=
data. Being convinced that you might provide clue to my search. I therefor=
e decided to contact you with these facts before me because of the Foreigne=
r similarities . By virtue of my closeness to the deceased and his immediat=
e family, I am very much aware of my client=E2=80=99s financial standing an=
d the bank account he operates.

I have reasoned very professionally and I feel it will be legally proper to=
present you as the next of kin to my deceased client, so that you can be p=
aid the funds left in his bank account. I therefore seek your consent to pr=
esent you as the next of kin to the deceased since you are at an advantage.=
The proceeds of this bank account valued at =C2=A319.7 Million (Nineteen M=
illion Seven Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) can be paid to you. We shall =
both share the funds equally, 50% for me and 50% to you. I shall assemble a=
ll the necessary legal documents that will be used to back up our claim. Al=
l I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing the deal through=
.

NOTE: PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME BY EMAIL FOR PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY =
TO ENABLE US DISCUSS FURTHER.


1) YOUR FULL NAME...........................................

2) YOUR FULL PHYSICAL ADDRESS...............................

3) YOUR CONVENIENT PHONE NUMBER..............................

4) YOUR FAX NUMBER..........................................

5) YOUR AGE.................................................

6) YOUR OCCUPATION...................................


I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that =
will protect you from any breach of the law.

Yours Sincerely,


Attorney Peter Dwell










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