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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: John Mpumelelo <annacooper177@gmail.com>
Reply-To: johnmpumelelo@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2023 06:40:57 +0200
Subject: fund transfer


Greetings to you

I am John Mpumelelo the bank auditor of Nedbank of South Africa (Ned Bank
SA). I got your email address from email directories and you are the only
person that I have contacted in this business with the belief that you will
not let me down and we will work together to develop trust and confidence
in this business.

After going through some files in the records department, I discovered that
there is an account opened in 2010 belonging to the late Mr. Keith Fernando
a foreigner and a miner at Kruger Gold Company, a geologist by profession
and since 2010 nobody has operated the account following Mr. Fernando death
in 2011. Since then, no other person knows about this account, and the
amount involved is US$10 Million.

I would like us to transfer the US$10 Million into your overseas account as
a foreigner because Mr. Fernando was a foreigner before joining you in
person for disbursement and investment opportunity which you will be an
asset to. I am only contacting you because of your foreign status as the
money cannot be approved to a local bank here, but can be approved to any
foreign account because the money is in a foreign currency (US dollars) and
the former owner of the account, Mr. Fernando was a foreigner.

Because of the need to involve a foreign account, I need your full
cooperation to make this work fine because the management is ready to
approve the payment to whoever has the current information to this account,
of which I will give you later, if you are able to handle such amount in
strict confidence and trust according to my instruction and advice for our
mutual benefit because this opportunity will never come again in our lives.
I need a trustworthy person in this business because I don’t want to make a
mistake and I need your strong assurance, trust and reliability.

With my position now in the office and the influence of the top bank
director of South African Reserve Bank, I will make sure that this money is
transferred into any reliable account, which you can provide in assurance
that this money will be intact pending my physical appearance in your
country for sharing. Your physical presence is also welcome in South Africa
in which the transfer will be done in your presence. I will destroy all the
documents of the transaction immediately you receive this money, leaving no
trace in any place.

I have a tendency to invest my own share of the money in your country in
expectation of sound management and good capital returns according to your
advice. Rest assured you stand no risk of any kind as the fund belongs to
us now, therefore after the eventual stage of transfer of this fund, I am
offering you 50% of the total fund, 50% will be for my investment.

I strongly believe that associating with you to embark on this funds
transfer and other business ventures will drive a huge success thereafter.
I will use my position to effect approvals for onward transfer of this
money to your account with appropriate clearance form from the ministry and
foreign exchange department. I am counting on your sense of
confidentiality, as it is my desire that you keep this to yourself.
Looking forward to your urgent Response,

Best Regards,
John Mpumelelo

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