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: Antonio Martinez <office.prospereze1@gmail.com>
Reply-To: linfo7597@gmail.com
Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2021 13:00:54 +0100
Subject: Season Greetings.Business Proposal For Our Good Benefit

--
My name is Barr. Antonio Martinez and I work with Antonio Martinez Abogados
SL Actually, I got your contact information through the World ES public
records while searching for a last name similar to my late client's a
business magnate by name Mrs. Ellen who lived in Spain for over a decade,
she died along with her nuclear family in a car accident along Alicante,
express way which occurred on December 29th, 2009. Before I digress, I must
first apologize for this unsolicited mail to you.I am aware that this is
certainly an un-orthodox way of approach to foster a relationship of trust.
Yet, I felt compelled due to the prevailing circumstances and the urgency
surrounding this claim.

Prior to her death she deposited the cash sum of $ 15. 500.000.00 (Fifteen
Million, Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars) with an offshore bank here in
Spain. Being the attorney to late Mrs. Ellen and family, the bank has
authorized me to present the heir / heiress to make Claims else the
deposited fund will be confiscated and taken to the State Treasury as
unclaimed fund.

Ensuing to the above I embarked on exhaustive search for a direct family
member to my late client which came to no avail. Based on this and the
ultimatum I was given from the bank to look for a relative to come for the
claim fund or it will be liquidated and made unserviceable in accordance
with existing deposit laws here in the kingdom of Spain.Against this
backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I enjoin you to stand as the next of
kin and beneficiary to my late client deposited fund, I know you may not be
anyway related to my late client but having a common surname with her and
the modality I have in place, I can guarantee that if you follow my
instructions and upon our capitalizing of some judicial loop holes the fund
will be released to us.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us achieve this
transaction. I wish to point out that I suggest 20% of this money to be
donated to Charity Organizations, while the remaining 80% is shared equally
between us.If you are interested, please get back to me.Upon your response,
I shall then provide you with more details that will help you understand
this transaction well.

Kindly indicate your response to this mail by sending to me the following
information to let me file a letter of claim.

FULL NAMES: ___________________________________
GENDER: _______________________________________
DATE OF BIRTH: _________________________________
COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE: __________________________
HOME ADDRESS: __________________________________
OFFICE ADDRESS: _________________________________
TELEPHONE NUMBER: __________
OCCUPATION: ______________________________________
YOUR PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS: _____________

Your urgent response will be highly anticipated and appreciated.

Best regards,
Barrister Antonio Martinez

Anti-fraud resources: