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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.

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Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Paul Lim" (may be fake)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2023 11:35:34 +0100
Subject: From Paul Lim

Hi,

My name is Paul Lim and I work for the Resona Bank in the investment division. We are the fifth-largest banking group in Japan and I work out of the Thailand representative office.

I have a proposition for you. This involves transferring funds to you from an investment account that has been inactive for a number of years. The account owner has been deceased for several years and no one has come forward to claim the funds. The money has been sitting in the account for over 6 and a half years. It will automatically be sent to our government, if no claim is filed with our office within 7years. That gives me just under 6 months to find a willing partner to share these funds with.

If I can transfer the money to someone who can stand in as the next of kin, then there will be no eyebrows raised, as it will appear that the money is being transferred to a relative.

If you are someone I can trust to receive the funds, please let me know. The amount in the account is over US$11 Million. Absolute confidentiality is required of you, if you agreed to share these funds with me. I will use my position here at the bank, to obtain documents to support the claim, so that the outgoing transfer to you, will not be questioned by anyone.

We will discuss your share of the funds and all other details once you have agreed to proceed.

If I don't hear back from you, I will assume you have no interest and I will continue my search for a partner who will stand in as next of kin for the deceased account holder.


I hope to hear back from you soon, because time is against me.

Yours,
Paul Lim

Resona Bank Japan
paul.lim@resona-gr.co

Anti-fraud resources: