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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: "Mr. Edward Collins" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <rf6686612@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2023 16:57:51 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend

Mr. Edward Collins is my name,a banker here in SPAIN . I write you
this very confidential proposal in good faith hoping that I will rely
on you. In 2010, Mr. Othman M. Ayaso who hails from your country  as
his place of origin/birth,, made a fixed deposit, valued at ?
12,200,000.00 (Twelve million Two hundred thousand Euros) with our
bank in SPAIN. He was an oil merchant and an Engineering contractor.
He came here in SPAIN for an Engineering work exploration from your
country before he made the deposit through his Swiss account in
Switzerland! I was his account officer. Unfortunately, while on a
business trip, he died in a deadly Tsunami earthquake that occurred on
March 11, 2011 in  Sendai Japan that killed many people.
The management of our bank has been sourcing for a means to reach him
so as to ascertain if he will want to roll over the Deposit or have
the contract sum withdrawn, when I discovered that this will happen, I
learnt of his death, so I have tried to think up a procedure to
preserve this fund and use the proceed for charity. Our Bank Managing
director has been trying to find out from me the information about
this account and the owner, but I have kept it closed to my heart
because I know that if they become aware of his death, they will
corner the funds for themselves and for their private use and leave me
with nothing.
Therefore, I am seeking your co-operation to present you as the one to
benefit from his fund at his death. So that my bank headquarters will
pay the funds to you. I have done enough inside the bank arrangement
and I only have to put in your details into the information network in
the bank computers database and reflect you as his next of kin to the
deceased Othman M. Ayaso.
This is a risk free operation as long as no one else besides you and
Iknows about this. I immensely request for your optimum honesty and
cooperation and Let me know your mind on this, and please do treat
this information as Top secret. We shall go over the details once I
receive your urgent response strictly through my personal email
address, we can as well discuss this on Whats apps call for confidential
purpose. Send me your phone number for easy communication.
Please observe this instruction religiously. Please, again, note I am
a family man with a Daughter. I send you this mail not without a
measure of doubt as to what the consequences could be for me if my
Bank finds out about my secret plan.Please let this be a top secret
between us.
The sharing should formula would be 45% for me, 45% for you and then
10% to Charity.
Best Regards,
Mr. Edward Collins.

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