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: alexanderlawfirm@lawer.org
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 11:28:44 +0000
Subject: Important and Confidential Notification.

Barr.Baah Alexander.
Alexander Associates & Law Firm.
Legal Practitioners and Solicitors.
#21 H West Palm Jumeriah,UAE.
Tel:+1 425-200-0992


Hello Dear,


I am Barrister Baah Alexander, Esquire and a Legal practitioner.I am the personal Attorney to Engineer.George, a National Of your country, who worked as a foreign expatriate with the British Institute Of Mining and metallurgy.

On the 15th of January 2020, my client, his wife and their only daughter were amongst the people who lost their lives in Wuhan China,after contacting the deadly Corona virus (Covid-19),Since then I have made several inquiries through your embassy here to locate any of my clients extended relatives, this has also proved unsuccessful.

After the several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the funds valued at US$218.5 million left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Finance Firm where this huge amount were deposited.

The said Finance Institute has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated within the next twenty one official working days. Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for about 2 months now, I seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since you share the same last names, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you.

Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer.I have all necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.
I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from breach of the law.

Call me after replying to this message for more procedures.


Best Regards.

Barrister.Baah Alexander.
Direct Cell: +1 425-200-0992

Anti-fraud resources: