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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: Silas Sambu <silas.sambu@yandex.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2016 11:08:33 -0400
Subject: Call for urgent discussion

Hello,

I am sending you this confidential email so you can go through it understand it and respond back to me for details, clarifications and information needed to proceed.
I am presently in a refugee camp on the border of Southern Africa and Botswana as a result of the political crisis that got all my family members killed in the Siere Leone crisis, I am the only surviving son of late Dr. SIMON SAMBU,until his death, my father was the General overseer of the Gold and Diamond Mining Corporation in Kanema,Sierra Leone.
During the crisis the military forces loyal to the Government of AHMED TIJAN KABBAH invaded the mine and assassinated my father, mistaking him for his brother MR.MIKE SAMBU who is the deputy to the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) FODAY SANKOH.
When the news reached me,I hurriedly gathered some valuables in our family villa and escaped for my dear life and left some other valuables since I was in a haste and lost some. Among the valuables I collected was a file that contained details of a Deposit in a Vault my father made in a security company overseas.

He deposited US$5,000,000 (Five Million U.S Dollars) contained in one box in my name. He did not disclose the real contents of the Box to the Company. He Declared the contents as Family Valuables for safety reasons. This is the money he made from the sales of Gold and diamonds during his time as the general overseer.
Upon the above, I want to solicit for your assistance to help me move over to your country to start schooling since I could not complete my studies before the unfortunate incidence. I will also request you help me move these funds into a safe account and act as my guardian and only parent I now know and get me admission so I can start a new life, please I am suffering here presently as the funds are somewhere in a safe deposit in overseas and I need your assistance to help me move the funds out and I start a new life. I shall give you a total of 30% of the amount above for your assistance and I will also request you help me invest the money in any lucrative venture you know.

Waiting for your response so I can give you further details and information.

Yours sincerely,
Silas Sambu
21 years old.

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