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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: ABANUKAM SUSAN <mrs.abanukam@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2020 15:54:51 -0700
Subject: Re, REGARDS

Attn: Friend,

I have been in search of someone with same name as yours, And it is
my pleasure to seek for your business assistance, and I want you to
consider it very important.
This is an opportunity I would like us to utilize very well. I am Mr.
Abrahim Ansah, Non-Executive Director and an officer in charge of
auditing and accounting section with ( Barclays Bank New York ), and
also a relationship account officer to Dr. Frederick Dervishi.
In 2007, One Late Dr. Frederick Dervishi, citizen of your country had
a fixed deposit with my bank for 36 calendar months, valued
US$7,400,000.00 (Seven Million, Four Hundred Thousand US Dollars) the
due date for this deposit contract was this 16th December 2016. Sadly,
Dr. Frederick was among the death victims in the Earthquake disaster
that occurred on the May 12, 2008 in Sichuan province of China that
killed thousands of people. He was in China on a business trip and
that was how he met his end. I have carried out various inquiries to
locate any of his clients and extended relatives but this has proved
unsuccessful. Since the demise of this our customer, Dr. Frederick,
who was a seasoned oil Merchant/contractor here, I have kept a close
watch of the deposit records and accounts, and since then nobody has
come to claim the said money in this account as the next of kin.

I hereby write in regards to this effect to have you stand as the
rightful beneficiary to Late Dr. Frederick, so that the funds will be
claimed, released and transferred into your local bank account before
my Bank declare the total funds unserviceable or confiscated. Please
you will be entitled to a percentage that will be discussed later with
you and there is no risk involved in this regard, the transaction will
be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from
any breach of law. I immensely request for your optimum honesty and
cooperation and Let me know your mind on this, and please do treat
this information as TOP SECRET. We shall go over the details once I
receive your urgent response strictly through my personal email
address, we can as well discuss this on phone if you so desire.

Anticipating your communication.
Mr. Abrahim.Ansah

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