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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: =?UTF-8?Q?Zoltan_Ha=C5=9Fim?= <rikate154@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2023 16:09:27 -0700
Subject: Looking forward to hearing from you

How has your day been? I am sure that you will receive me with sincerity,I
am contacting you to see how you can help me and yourself too.

My name is Cheng. I am a bank staff in a Turkish bank. I believe it was
God's will that we met to Share important information. I'm sure you will be
interested. I think God wants me to meet you now. I have an important
business discussion that I would like to share with you and I think you
will be interested as it relates to your nationality and will benefit from
it.

A citizen of your country died recently with his entire family in the
recent earthquake in Turkey, he had in our bank fixed deposits worth $11.5
million. Unfortunately, he and his son who is the next of kin of the
deceased account also have died.

My Bank management are yet to know of his death if my bank executive finds
out that he and his immediate family have passed away ,They will receive
the funds for themselves and get more richer and I would like to prevent
that from happening only if i get your cooperation, I knew about it because
I was his account manager.

Last week my bank management held a meeting for the purpose of a bank audit
to note the dormant and abandoned deposit accounts. I know this will
happen and that's why I'm looking for a solution to deal with this
situation because if my bank manager accidentally discovers his death, the
bank will divert the funds to the senior board of directors. So I don't
want that to happen.

Now I request your cooperation to introduce you as the next of kin/heir of
the account as you are of the same nationality as him and my banking center
will issue the account to you through my help. There is no risk; the
transaction is carried out under a legal agreement that protects you from
infringement. Better to demand the money than let the bank managers divert
it and divide it among themselves. I'm not a greedy person, so I suggest
we split the funds, 60/40 and 40 for me. Let me know what you think about
it and please keep this information confidential. I will provide more
details as soon as I receive your urgent reply to my personal email address
below. chengetsuko@yahoo.com.

Anti-fraud resources: