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: "Mr. Owen Stevenson" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <hsbcbankstevenson@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2019 14:49:34 +0100
Subject: Letter Of Notification.

MY DEAR,
 
CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP REQUEST FOR YOUR PAYMENT!
 
How is your health today? I hope your fine. I am writing you this personal letter to inform you of the situation at hand. We have $12 million dollars in our bank HSBC BANK LONDON on your behalf, deposited through a bank outside London to our account, making you the beneficiary of the fund.
 
Reference to the Official letter received on the 1st November, 2019 from one MR. DAVID HAYES in which he has informed us about your ill health and you are still in the hospital, he has actually requested us to effect CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP of your long outstanding payment to his name.
 
We did ask MR. HAYES to provide us with the LETTER OF AUTHORITY from you as evidence that you have authorized him to receive the funds on your behalf which he has not done so, it is in this regards that I personally decided to write to you to verify if his claims were right or wrong because of my previous experiences in matters of this nature, therefore, you need to confirm the following information to us as soon as possible, thus:
 
(a) If you are sick and in the Hospital as claimed by MR. HAYES.
 
(b) If you have actually given him the mandate to receive the fund on your behalf.
 
(c) What is your relationship with MR. DAVID HAYES?
 
(D) If you know nothing concerning his claim, that means you have to re-confirm your bank account immediately.
 
It is very important that you should reply to this mail urgently as further silence on the matter will be clear evidence that you are in agreement with his request, in this respect, for faster and urgent attention to your matter, do get back to us urgently by mail.
 
Email: hsbcbankstevenson@gmail.com
 
Thanks and best regards,
 
Mr. Owen Stevenson,
HSBC BANK LONDON.
 

Anti-fraud resources: