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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: =?UTF-8?B?U2hlbmsgTGFzc3k=?= <shenklassy1@mail.ru>
Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2017 23:42:53 +0300
Subject: =?UTF-8?B?RGVhciBTaXIvTWEs?=

Dear Sir/Ma,

I am writing you to ask you for a favor that I hope you could do for me. I am Mr. Mr. Shenk Lassy, I work with British Arab Commercial Bank Plc, London. I am personally contacting you because of the below information. I am an account officer to one of our customers, Engr. Dennis who worked as a freelance worker with several Oil Companies in London.

On the 2nd of August 2013, Engr. Dennis and his wife were involved in a car accident along Lime-house link road, London. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives.
I have made several inquiries to your Embassy to locate any of his extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to trace his relatives over the internet to locate any member of his family, hence I contacted you. I am contacting you to assist in repatriating the deposit valued at £8 million pounds left behind by our late
customer before it gets confiscated by our bank where these huge deposits were lodged.

Following the new law of succession/claims/fund indicates a duration in which such claims could be tolerated. The board of directors of the bank will soon report a list of  funds to the central bank of England as unclaimed funds.

I will present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account will be paid to you as the Next of Kin/extended relative. All documents that can be used to back up the claim will be legally procured by me. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Upon your acceptance to work with me, I will compensate you with 30% of the total fund for your assistance. Do not forget to send me your direct telephone number for alternative correspondence.


Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Shenk Lassy

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