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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: "Gron Thorsen Thomas" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <gronthomass@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2016 15:24:55 +1300
Subject: Please urgently

>From The Desk Of Gron Thorsen Thomas London United Kingdom Dear Sir, I have picked up the trust and courage to write you this letter with divine confidence that you are a reliable and honest person who will be capable for this important and confidential transaction which I have for you, believing also that you will never let me down either now or in the future. I was in California on a seminar and I got your information from a trdae consultant here in California, though I did not disclose the purpose of my seeking for a foreign partner to him. Unfortunately, I had to leave California due to urgent appointment back home; this was the reason why I decided to write you this letter immediately I arrived home to my country. My name is Mr. Gron Thorsen Thomas a Solicitor at Law and the personal Attorney/Sole Executor to the late Mr. Randolph Marriott, hereinafter referred to as my client; an industrialist, who worked as an Oil and Gas Merchant in my country and passed away. There is an account opened in one of the banks/Financial Institution in the United Kingdom by my client in 2010 and no family member knows about this account or anything concerning it. In 2013, Mr. Randolph Marriott summoned me to his office to commence his WILL process, that was when his health condition became worse. He eventually died few months ago, leaving the WILL uncompleted. The family does not know about his personal deposit of GBP19.7 Million (Nineteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand Pound Sterling) as it is not listed on the WILL, and all th e family focus,I want to present I will secure the vital documents that will make you the beneficiary of the fund to enable us claim it from the Financial Institution where the fund is deposited. The WILL is with me and no member of his family has not seen the WILL yet and the bank where the fund is deposited is not known to them. The question is, can we work together? Kindly get back to me for further discussion on this if you are interested. Respectfully Yours, Gron Thorsen Thomas

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