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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: "Hamza Maho" <admin@beoffer.ga>
Reply-To: hamza-aho@hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:38:12 -0700
Subject: Proposal.....


Dearest Friend, I am Hamza MAHO, I want to seek your assistance after my di=
scovery during auditing in my bank as I'm the manager of Bill and Exchange =
at the Foreign Remittance Department in Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afri=
que de l'Ouest (BCEAO). In my department we discovered a sum of $31.300.000=
million in an account that belonged to one of our foreign customer. Upon m=
aturity, we sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got n=
o response. After some months, we sent a reminder and finally discovered th=
at our customer died from an automobile accident. On further investigation,=
I found out that he did not leave a will and all attempts to trace his nex=
t of kin were fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and discove=
red that the deceased person did not declare any next of kin in all his off=
icial documents, including his bank deposit paperwork. It is therefore upon=
this discovery that I decided as the head of my department to make this bu=
siness proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or r=
elation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement, and you wil=
l be given 35% of the total amount, 60% will be for me, while 5% will be fo=
r expenses both parties might have incurred during the process of transferr=
ing. after the transfer is made to your country / account since nobody is c=
oming for it and we don't want this money to go into the Bank treasury as u=
nclaimed bills. We will conclude this operation within 21 banking days base=
d on the amount of co-operation you will contribute. We will start the firs=
t transfer with Eleven million [$11,000.000] upon successful transaction wi=
thout any disappoint from your side, we shall re-apply for the payment of t=
he remaining amount to your account. I need your full co-operation to make =
this work fine.Because the management is ready to approve this payment to a=
ny foreigner who has correct information of this account, which I will give=
to you, upon your positive response and once I am convinced that you are c=
apable and will meet up with instruction of a key bank official who is deep=
ly involved with me in this business. I need your strong assurance that you=
will never,never let me down. With my influence and the position of the ba=
nk official we can transfer this money to any foreigner's reliable account =
which you can provide with assurance that this money will be intact pending=
our physical arrival in your country for sharing. The bank official will d=
estroy all documents of transaction immediately we receive this money leavi=
ng no trace to any place and to build confidence, you can come immediately =
to discuss with me face to face after which I will make this remittance in =
your presence and three of us will fly to your country at least two days ah=
ead of the money going into the account. I will apply for annual leave to g=
et visa immediately I hear from you that you are ready to act and receive t=
his fund in your account. I will use my position and influence to obtain al=
l legal approvals for onward transfer of this money to your account with ap=
propriate clearance from the relevant ministries and foreign exchange depar=
tments. At the conclusion of this business, you will be given 35% of the to=
tal amount, 60% will be for me, while 5% will be for expenses both parties =
might have incurred during the process of transferring. Thank you for your =
understanding as i await your urgent response to me give you more details d=
on't forget to give me those information below before we can go ahead in th=
is business/project. Your private telephone number Your private E-mail addr=
ess Your profession Your country Your age Yours faithfully, Hamza MAHOI.

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