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: Jerry Williamson <bean4503@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 16 May 2023 19:25:36 -0400
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT!!

Hello,

I am Mr. Jerry Williamson, a banker with Bank of America and account
officer to a high profile client (name withheld for security reasons), a
national of your country who used to work with Shell Oil company here in
Texas U.S.A whom hereafter shall be referred to as my client.

On the 21st of April 2019, my client, his wife and their three children
were involved in a car accident while on their way to go shopping,
unfortunately all occupants of the vehicle lost their lives. Since then I
have made several enquiries to his embassy to locate any of my client's
extended relatives.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name
over the Internet in an attempt to locate any member of his family hence I
contacted you.

Your assistance is needed in repatriating the portfolio worth $6.5 Million
USD, left behind by my client before they get confiscated and or declared
unserviceable by the company where these huge deposits were lodged. I have
been unsuccessful in this endeavour and recently
I have been issued a notice by the holding company to provide my client's
next of kin or forfeit the said deposits within the next ten official
working days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating his relatives for over 2 years,
I am forced to seek your consent as with regards presenting you as the next
of kin to the deceased since you have the same last name. This way the
deposits along with their yielded proceeds can be released to you and then
we
can share it 60% to me and 40% to you. I have all necessary legal
documentation to back our claims, all I require is your honest co-operation
to enable us to see this through.

I guarantee that this will be strictly executed under legitimate terms that
will protect you from any legal problems. Please get in touch with me as
soon as you possibly can by email and send me your telephone and fax
numbers to enable us to further discuss this transaction.

Sincerely,

Mr. Jerry Williamson

Anti-fraud resources: