joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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: "Rt Hon. Philip Hammond" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <philiphammond_hmtreasury@mailbox.sk>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2016 05:22:56 +0100
Subject: YOUR FUNDS TRANSFER

ATTN: Sir/Madam,
 
 
My name is Philip Hammond .As you must be aware, I am the newly appointed chancellor of the Exchequer( The HM Treasury) in the United Kingdom. I have been mandated by the HM-Treasury to contact you with regards to your protracted and stalled funds and the release of your funds US$10.5Million.  I would urge you to accord this correspondence your full indulgence and attention, i received a report in your file how you have been receiving other emails from the numerous fraud syndicate and impostors.
 
 
Your transfer file came to my attention just yesterday morning, and I was compelled to take special interest in your transfer because of its peculiar history of procedural inconsistencies and unauthorized payment approval documents that are contained in your file. Obviously all the persons you assigned to process your transfer have proved to be fraudulent and incompetent. Simply put it that some management of the Bank have tried unsuccessfully to smuggle your transfer through a non-existent back door, while impersonating the offices of various government departments before you, and feeding you with forged transferred document.
 
 
Consequently, I have this morning ordered the heads of all the relevant Government Departments genuinely involved in the foreign transfer protocol, including the Bank to suspend all further action on your transfer pending conclusion of my personal investigation into the actual reasons why your transfer has failed to date.
 
 
After detailed study and verification process conducted for the application for approval for the wire transfer of your  funds valued  US$10,500,000.00 (Ten Million Five hundred thousand United States dollars) into your bank account as stated below, which approval was received and instruction from Her Majesty’s Treasury (HM-TREASURY). We hereby give approval for the transfer to be made into your bank account with the tune of US$10,500,000.00 (Ten Million Five hundred thousand United States dollars).
 
 
Consequent to the release of your funds which you are expected to meet certain criteria to enhance the swift release of your funds. You're expected  to confirm your bank account details where you would want these funds to be transferred as well as your personal details.
 
 
Thank you,
 
 
Yours truly,
 
 
 
Best regards,
 
Rt Hon. Philip Hammond
MP and HM Treasury

Anti-fraud resources: