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: "Broomhall & Co. Law Firm," (may be fake)
Reply-To: <stbroomhall@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2018 09:31:06 +0300
Subject: Your relative

Hello My name is Stephen Broomhall, I'm a lawyer with Broomhall & Co. Law Firm, Birmingham, UK. I contacted you because I realized you have the same last name with my deceased client who's only next of kin died alongside with him few years ago in a car accident on their way back from a family vacation. Since the death of my client, there hasn't been any relatives or possible next of kin beneficiaries coming forward to claim his estates because there's none that I know of in existence. Knowing that my late client left a lot of money, properties and most importantly, an oil lifting license behind, I decided to contact you with the intention of presenting you with all legal backings as the next of kin beneficiary to the estates of my late client. As the executor of the will, it is my legal duty to present the next of kin to the deceased for claim/transfer of inheritance. The entire process will be purely legitimate/risk free. My major concern will be your sincerity, willingness and trust worthiness. If I can count on you to have these 3 qualities, then I will be more comfortable to release more information to you about the amount of money involved, the properties and the benefits of the oil license and how we can go about it. Looking forward to your urgent response at my email stbroomhall@hotmail.com Best Regards, Stephen A. Broomhall, Esq. Broomhall & Co Cheltenham House, 14-16 Temple Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B2 5BG, England

Anti-fraud resources: