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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: "OFFICE MAIL" <root@alltake.com.tw>
Reply-To: <jack.ruben@mail.com>
Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 11:45:23 +0100
Subject: UNCLAIMED ETSTATE CUSTODIAN

 
 
--
FROM:MR.DAVID COHEN
BPI BANK LIMITED
144 NUXLEY ROAD,
EA2 JG34 LONDON
 
Hello Dear Friend,
 
 
I am MR. DAVID COHEN, Branch Manager with BPI Bank Ltd., here in London United Kingdom. I am the account officer to MR. COLIN MORLEY, from North London who worked and died here in the U.K. without A Will. I have made several inquiries to locate any of my clients relatives immediate and extended, this has proved unsuccessful.
 
I feel quite safe dealing with you in this business proposition having gone through a remarkable profile on the internet. Though, this medium (Internet) has been greatly abused, I choose to reach you through it because it still remains the fastest,surest and most secured medium of communication. However,this correspondence is private, and it should be treated as with utmost confidentiality.
 
I am contacting you because, I need you to assist in securing the money and property left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where his huge deposits were lodged, a domiciliary account valued  (£10M) Ten Million British Pounds GBP. The bank has issued a notice to provide the Next of Kin or have the account confiscated within the next one month and depositor's fund sent to the Bank Treasury according  to the Banking and financial law. He died in Bomb Blast in London, Terrorist Attacks on July 7th 2005. Incident that befall the UNITED KINGDOM, the bank is still unrelenting in it's bid to contact any of the relatives to claim this money, you can confirm through this Site. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4668245.stm
 
I have all necessary documents to back up claims as Next of Kin on your behalf. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. As soon as the fund is paid to you it can be  shared according to  agreement between both party that 50% shall go to me and 40% to you, 5% for charity, while 5% should be for expenses or tax as your government may require.
 
Please get in touch with me by email to enable us commence further on the next stage. Also include your phone number so that we can discuss more on the modalities.
 
Best Regards,
MR. DAVID COHEN

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