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: "Dr. Brown Williams" <drwilliamsbrown1958@gmail.com>
Reply-To: infowb56@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:29:46 +0100
Subject: Good Day My Dear

--
Good Day My Dear.

I wish to intimate you with a request that would be of immense benefit
to both of us.I am Dr. Brown Williams the director in charge of
auditing and accounting section of a bank here in Republic of Benin,my
department came across a huge sum of $20M belongs to deceased late
Mrs. Surti Dahlia, a German/Dutch businesswoman and widow from
Netherlands who was one of the victim of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
(MH370/MAS370) which crashed in the south of the Indian Ocean on March
8, 2014 on the way from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing
Capital International Airport killing all on board. Mrs.Surti DAHLIA
is number 130 on the list of the manifest of the flight.

Since her death,this bank has been waiting for the next of kin to come
for the claim of her balance, having gone through a methodical search
for her next of kin, I personally have failed in the search for her
relatives.

I seek your consent to present you to the bank as the real next of kin
of the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at US$20M
can be paid to you. All legal documents to back up your claim as the
real next-of-kin will be provided. All I require is your honest
cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.

This transaction will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that
will protect you from all breach of the law. If this business
proposition offends your moral values, do accept my apology. I must
use this opportunity to implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence
to keep this matter extraordinary confidential, whatever your
decision, while I await your prompt response.

On the conclusion of this transaction to your account, 49% would be
given to you as gratification, 3% for expenses and for the orphanage,
while 48% is for me.

I look forward to your quick reply.

Dr. Brown Williams.

Anti-fraud resources: